Effects of alcohol and frustration on experimental graffiti

This study aimed to examine effects between alcohol and frustration in regard to graffiti. Forty-two subjects, 21 men and 21 women were randomly assigned in equal numbers to each of the three experimental groups, namely a Control group, an Alcohol group, and an Alcohol + Frustration group (alcohol dose: 1 ml 100% alcohol/kg body weight). For the purposes of this experiment, a test (AET) was constructed that provided scores of "scrawling-graffiti" (i.e., the amount of scrawling on pictures), "destruction", "aggression", and "sexuality". An elaboration test and a test measuring the "dispositional optimism" were also applied. The primary results indicated that (a) the Alcohol + Frustration group scored significantly higher on scrawling-graffiti compared to the Control group, (b) female subjects performed graffiti-scrawling to a greater extent than male subjects in all three groups, (c) women scored significantly higher on elaboration as compared to men. These results were interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that alcohol intake by itself is unlikely to induce destructive behavior unless accompanied by a "provocative" factor (e.g. frustration) that precipitates the putative expressions of aggressiveness.