A utility analysis of drinking

In a study applying a utility analysis to drinking behavior, a questionnaire on beliefs about the effects of alcohol and the desirability of those effects was administered to a sample of college students and a sample drawn from the population. Measures of the expected utility of drinking were calculated. Utility scores were positively related to drinking habits, due to heavier drinkers' increased expectations of positive consequences of drinking and more positive evaluation of all consequences. It is suggested that studies on expectancies about drinking should include not only measures of behavioral expectations but measures of the desirability of alcohol effects.