Test subjects who consumed alcohol were discovered to have a nearly 7 percent higher likelihood of engaging in ‘impure’ acts and a 4 percent higher likelihood of considering harming others. However, alcohol did not appear to affect morals such as fairness, loyalty, and respect for authority. Discoveries from a recent study conducted by a team of international neuroscientists and psychologists revealed that even just one drink can lead individuals to exhibit behavior that is physically harmful to others or engage in deviant actions. The study involved 329 participants, ranging from 18 to 52 years old, who were carefully selected to represent a diverse group. The researchers evaluated their slightly intoxicated test subjects and their sober control groups across five categories of moral fiber: care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and purity. Only two of these categories were influenced by alcohol consumption. One of the study’s authors supported this well-known belief by stating, ‘Drunk people want to do more immoral things than sober people,’ reinforcing the idea with the support of empirical evidence.
The study found that individuals who were given alcohol were 4 percent more likely to consider harming others or animals and nearly 7 percent more likely to engage in ‘impure’ acts. It is important to note that alcohol consumption has been a part of human culture for centuries, yet there is still limited research on its impact on human morality. Psychologist Mariola Paruzel-Czachura, the lead author of the study and an associate professor at the Polish University of Silesia in Katowice’s Institute of Psychology, as well as a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Brain Science Center, emphasized the importance of further investigation into this topic. Paruzel-Czachura stated, ‘These studies have huge practical implications.’
To conduct the study, Paruzel-Czachura and her co-investigators from the University of Silesia in Katowice and UPenn initially screened 1,079 volunteers before finalizing the group of 329 participants. The participants were divided into three groups: the test group that consumed alcohol, a control group that abstained, and a placebo group that had their beverages lightly sprayed with alcohol to simulate the experience. The subjects then completed a Moral Foundations Sacredness Scale (MFSS) questionnaire, which differed from previous studies by explicitly examining the boundaries individuals would not cross regarding morality. The MFSS presented the participants with moral decision-making scenarios, such as sticking a pin into the palm of an unknown child to measure ‘care’ or refusing a friend’s request for help after they had helped you previously to evaluate ‘fairness.’ Subjects, both intoxicated and sober, indicated how much money they would require to perform each task on a scale of 0 to 8, ranging from doing it for free to never doing it for any amount of money.
After conducting statistical analysis to reduce the possibility of false signals, the researchers observed that the experimental group (those who consumed alcohol) scored an average of 6.01 on ‘care’ questions, compared to 6.33 for the control group and 6.03 for the placebo group. In terms of moral purity, the control group had an average score of 5.98, while the experimental group scored 5.43. The researchers speculated that the lack of significant changes in answers relating to fairness, loyalty, and authority could be due to these morals indicating core values. The most divisive question for the participants in the care category was whether they would kick a dog in the head, while the most divisive question in the purity category was whether they would accept a blood transfusion from a convicted child molester.
In conclusion, the study provides valuable insights into the effects of alcohol on human morality. The findings suggest that alcohol consumption increases the likelihood of individuals engaging in ‘impure’ acts and considering harm to others. Further research in this area is crucial to fully understand the impact of alcohol on human behavior.
