When alcoholics are not anonymous: socioperceptual effects of labeling and drinking pattern

The influence of the label "alcoholic" on observers' social perceptions and behavioral intentions about peers who consume alcohol normatively or excessively was examined. College students (40 men and 40 women) listened to a tape-recorder bogus interview in which a male interviewee reported either a normative or an excessive drinking pattern after having or ot having been labeled an alcoholic by the experimenter. Subjects then rated their reactions to the interviewee on several dimensions. Relative to the normative drinker, the excessive drinker was more likely to be judged by both sexes as deviant, an alcoholic, not in control of his drinking, poorly adjusted, psychologically ineffective, unlikely to improve, in need of professional help and responsible for this behavior, and was more strongly rejected as a potential friend and co-worker. The label of "alcoholic" negatively affected nearly all these perceptions at each level of alcohol use but without perceptual distortion of the interviewees' amount of consumption. The implications for the contribution of interpersonal stigma to alcohol-related problems are discussed.