The Null Device

A dog and a fox

It has been well known that alcohol causes many men to find women more attractive than they otherwise would (the effect is colloquially known as "beer goggles"). Now, researchers have found that actual alcohol isn't even required; exposure to alcohol-related words is enough; at least among men who expect that alcohol has that effect.
First, the subjects answered questionnaires that asked whether they thought alcohol affected their sex drive. Afterward, the men were divided into two groups and placed next to computers. One group was shown words that described alcohol, such as liquor, beer and keg. The other group saw words like water, soda and coffee.
The researchers found that the group of men who expected alcohol to enhance their sex drive found the women in the photos more attractive after viewing the alcohol cue words. The group that expected alcohol to reduce their sex drive found the women to be less attractive.

This echoes another priming experiment (reported in both Mind Hacks and Malcolm Gladwell's Blink), in which students surreptitiously exposed to old-age-related words like "wrinkled", "senior" and "Florida" were found to walk more slowly down a corridor than those not primed in this way.

There are 3 comments on "A dog and a fox":

Posted by: Graham http://grudnuk.com/ Mon May 2 11:42:52 2005

Aaahhhh! So that might explain why people exposed to the rantings of right-wing chickenhawks become more bellicose. Maybe.

Posted by: Todd A. Lafon http://hometown.aol.com/h8s2d8needsam8/mindcontrolhp.html Tue May 3 11:51:56 2005

want to see what they have been applying all this study info too come take a look at my web page it's time to bring this shit out of the closet boy's and girl's thanks and late. http://hometown.aol.com/h8s2d8needsam8/mindcontrolhp.html

Posted by: Graham http://grudnuk.com/ Wed May 4 00:40:30 2005

Wha?

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