Social Drinking Uses, Abuses, and Psychological Factors

Social drinking refers to casual drinking in a social setting without an intent to get drunk. Social drinking plays an important (but not traditional) role in such social functions as dating, and marriage. For example, a person buying another a drink at a singles bar is a gesture that one is interested in the other and often initiates conversation, or at least flirtation. Bad news is often expressed through a drink, whilst good news is often celebrated by having a few drinks. Buying someone a drink is a gesture of goodwill, and can be used as an expression of gratitude or mark the resolution of a dispute -- to bury the hatchet, so to say. The physical act of going to a comfortable setting with friends is a large part of sharing a drink in the above situations. This new and important book gathers the latest research from around the globe in the study of social drinking and discusses several topics such as: social drinking during pregnancy can lead to foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, social influence on adolescent alcohol use, behavioural strategies for reducing high-risk drinking among college students, and others.