Drinking habits in Finland and Scotland: a comparison of survey results

An unusual opportunity to compare drinking habits in two countries in a technically satisfying way is offered by two surveys, one conducted in Scotland in 1972 by Dight and the other in Finland in 1976 by this author. Both Scotland and Finland represent ambivalent sociocultural attitudes toward alcohol, and the total alcohol consumption per capita is approximately the same in both countries. In Finland the distribution of alcoholic beverages is controlled by a state alcohol monopoly whereas in Scotland the distribution is in private hands and controlled by a very different system. Moreover, the dominating beverage type in Scotland is beer in spite of the famous whisky tradition, while the Finns prefer distilled spirits to other beverages. Thus there exist notable similarities as well as interesting dissimilarities in the general framework of drinking habits in these two countries. In this paper only the shares of drinkers and abstainers in demographic groups, the number of problem drinkers, as well as some results concerning the attributes of drinking occasions are considered. The results reveal interesting differences in the sociocultural sphere of drinking. The problem to be further discussed is whether these differences arise from the deeply noted traditions or from the influence of control systems. These two are, of course, complexly connected.