The Relationship Between Alcohol Intake and Perceived Attractiveness

It's been said* that as one grows increasingly under the influence of alcohol, prospective sexual partners tend grow more attractive. Of course, being the highly desirable fellow that I am, I never had to test this theory when I was on the market, but I've heard tell of it.

It seems, though, that the reverse of this might also be true ... that a person becomes more attractive to prospective partners after imbibing a drink or two.

Yes, Dear Readers, from the Department of Amazing Scientific Studies comes this report from the February 2015 issue of the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism: "Increased Facial Attractiveness Following Moderate, but Not High Alcohol Consumption." According to the results of the study,

"Photographs of individuals who had consumed a low dose of alcohol (equivalent to 250 ml of wine at 14% alcohol by volume for a 70 kg individual) were rated as more attractive than photographs of sober individuals. This was not observed for faces of individuals who had consumed a high dose of alcohol (equivalent to 500 ml of wine at 14% alcohol by volume in a 70 kg individual). 

And the summary conclusion was,

"In addition to perceiving others as more attractive, a mildly intoxicated alcohol consumer may also be perceived as more attractive by others. This in turn may play a role in the relationship between alcohol consumption and risky sexual behaviour."

You can read more about the study (in layman's terms) in this article - The Number of Drinks After Which You'll Look Hottest. Why should moderate alcohol consumption make one look more attractive to the opposite sex? One reason, according to one of the researchers, is that

"The people who had consumed a small amount of alcohol had a slightly rosier complexion than they did in their sober and high-dose photos ... (and) rosiness is attractive because it characterizes good physical health characteristics."

Obviously, there are significant drawbacks to the use of alcohol as a way of making oneself more attractive to the opposite sex, one of which is the danger of miscalculating one's intake and looking like a drunken buffoon rather than a potentially great sexual partner. Nevertheless, for those who might need to give nature a hand in the attractiveness department, it couldn't hurt.

Not that I would know, of course.

Have a good day. Drink responsibly, unless you are trying to cope with the latest Congressional buffoonery ... in which case, stock up at the local package store, because it ain't gonna get any better any time soon.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* In many country songs, for instance.