Alcohol removes internal inhibitions, helps to relax, makes people more open and sociable. In a state of intoxication, a feeling of mutual sympathy easily arises, and faces seem more attractive. The joke that the beauty of a woman depends on the amount of alcohol drunk by a man is found in the folklore of different countries. In the English-speaking environment, this effect is called Beer goggles (translated from English. “beer glasses”). British scientists have found the answer to the question of why people seem more attractive after alcohol.
“Beer Glasses”
The term Beer goggles first appeared in Playboy magazine in January 1987. The publication published the story of Georgetown University graduates about their life during their studies. Former students joked that the most practical and fashionable accessory to wear to a party in a boring Catholic high school was “beer glasses”. The jargon was immediately picked up by the media and sounded more than once in humorous sketches and comedies.
In 2009, the term was included in the Oxford English Dictionary, which defined Beer goggles as “a conditionally alcohol-induced effect on vision”. The effect of “beer glasses” was first mentioned in connection with the inadequate assessment of the beauty of the opposite sex, caused by the use of alcohol. But in 2008, British scientists conducted a study that proved that under the influence of alcohol all people seem to be more attractive, regardless of their gender.
Beauty is in symmetry
The effect of “beer glasses” was first studied by scientists from the University of Bristol in the UK. An experiment with a group of 84 students showed that after a moderate dose of alcohol, people rate the attractiveness of faces in photographs by ten percent higher than when sober. At the same time, the gender of the object did not matter – both men and women seemed more beautiful to the intoxicated students.
Scientists from the University of London Roehampton conducted a deeper study, during which they studied the ability of a person in a state of intoxication to notice asymmetry. It turned out that alcohol distorts visual perception, therefore, under the influence of alcoholic drinks, faces in photographs are perceived by people as more harmonious and attractive than they really are.
Alcohol not only disrupts the normal functioning of the organs of vision, but also stimulates the endocrine system. The release of estradiol and testosterone increases attraction to the opposite sex. The weakening of psychological barriers against the background of alcohol makes people sociable and liberated. All factors combine to make it easy to strike up conversations even with strangers at parties and in bars.
Interest in the subject of Beer goggles glorified a group of scientists from the French University of Grenoble, led by Laurent Beg. In 2013, they received the Ig Nobel Prize for a study titled “Why Drunk People Think They’re Attractive”. An experiment conducted in a bar showed that both alcohol and its imitation (placebo) cause an increase in self-esteem. Scientists came to the conclusion that the effect of “beer glasses” can be caused, among other things, by the peculiarities of human psychology.