Photographically portrayed identities, alcohol expectancies, and excessive drinking

A new measure of alcohol-related identity was derived from college students' photographic self-depictions using Ziller's (1990) autophotographic essay task. This measure and the well-developed Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ; Brown, Goldman, Inn, & Anderson, 1980) were used to predict frequency and typical quantity of drinking. Replicating past research, the AEQ showed a number of significant relationships with drinking behavior. The alcohol identity measure also correlated with these measures, even when variance attributable to the AEQ was controlled, and related particularly well to the typical quantity measure. It is suggested that the autophotographic essay method has heuristic value for alcohol research and other personality phenomena.