Situational influences on cues used to judge intoxication

Subjects' perceptions of cues used to judge intoxication across different drinking settings were investigated. College students (N = 40) were presented with 12 one-paragraph scenarios, four for each of three types of drinking expectancy: tension reduction, social disinhibition and physical impairment. Pilot testing confirmed that the scenarios accurately represented these different expectancies. Subjects rated the importance of 18 cues to intoxication for judging intoxication in each of the 12 scenarios. Results indicated that 15 of the 18 cues were perceived to be differentially important in the three types of situations. These results suggest that subjects apply cues to intoxication differently in different situations.