Effects of alcohol administration on the disinhibition of racial prejudice

Eighty-two white male undergraduate social drinkers were selected from high and low scorers on the Modern Racism Scale. Subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 balanced placebo design conditions. After consuming their beverages, subjects viewed a videotape interaction between a Black and a White confederate. The subjects were told to rate the behaviors of the confederates, including an ambiguous shove of the White confederate by the Black confederate. It was expected, according to attribution theory, that high racism subjects would label the shove as more aggressive when they believed they had consumed alcohol, because alcohol could be used as an excuse for the socially unacceptable behavior of racial discrimination. A mood measure was also administered. Significant main effects of racism group and alcohol dosing were found for seriousness of aggression ratings, with high racism subjects and those expecting alcohol reporting more serious aggression, but the racism group by dosing condition interaction was not significant. A significant racism group by dosing condition interaction was found for the tension/anxiety mood scale, with greater tension being reported by high racism subjects who received alcohol. The results were related to theories of alcohol's disinhibiting and attention-limiting properties.