The Popularity of Alcohol Use
The consumption of alcoholic beverages can be traced back to ancient times. Since then, the popularity of alcohol has endured despite increases in the availability of alternatives such as cannabis, tranquilizers, and many other agents.
However, alcohol’s popularity has declined at times. In the 1800s, there was a reduction in its use for hydration, instead of water, which often contained bacteria and other infectious agents that cannot survive in alcohol, when it was discovered that boiling water made it safe to drink. Another reduction occurred during the Prohibition Era in the early 1900s.
Health Effects of Alcohol Use
It is too soon to tell, but alcohol use may take a hit in response to recent evidence concerning its effects on health. First, research called into question the popular idea that drinking red wine may have health benefits. Then, in just the past few years, accumulating evidence has indicated that no amount of alcohol can be consumed without causing negative effects on physical health.
If you have been following these developments and weighing the benefits of reducing your consumption of alcohol or stopping altogether, understanding the relevant psychological research may facilitate your thinking process.
Conflicting Health Information
Much is said about disinformation and misinformation in the news and social media. Disinformation is false information that is intended to mislead. Misinformation refers to information that is false irrespective of intention. Both have become a concern in discourse concerning health. And there has been both disinformation and misinformation about the health effects of drinking alcoholic beverages.
Less attention has been devoted to conflicting health information. Conflicting information refers to two or more pieces of information that disagree with each other. Its effects are receiving increased attention by researchers. For example, one frequently comes across contradictory claims of health consequences of consuming coffee, whole grains, red meat, and many other products.
There is evidence that conflicting health information produces confusion, as well as backlash in the form of negative feelings about and attitudes toward health information and health-related research. Exposure to conflicting health information also appears to produce a temporary reduction in the person’s ability to focus attention and hold information in their memory. These effects may undermine health-promoting behaviors such as medical screenings and interfere with optimal decision-making in clinical settings.
It is important to recognize that inconsistent research findings and conflicting conclusions by scientists are inevitable. Over time, as the research matures, these are often resolved. But, even then, the practical implications—in this case, what you, personally, should do about evidence regarding the health effects of alcohol consumption—may not be immediately clear.
It is in your interest not to develop mistrust or be frustrated by opposing views and recommendations. A good place to start is to find out what your physician recommends, given your current physical condition, lifestyle, and personal and family medical history.
Cognitive Dissonance
New information about the health effects of alcohol may be creating another type of conflict in some drinkers: cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a form of tension or discomfort that arises when a person holds two conflicting beliefs, or there is conflict between a belief and a behavior. For many, a newly formed belief about the harmful effects of alcohol will run counter to one’s ongoing alcohol consumption. Associated with this is the possibility of ambivalence at the thought of giving up the pleasures of consuming one’s preferred alcoholic beverage as a way to avoid physical health problems.
Social Pressure
Still another form of discomfort regarding the consumption of alcohol may arise in social situations in which alcohol is served and one’s friends and family members are indulging. There may be implicit pressure to drink, and even overt persuasion to do so. Social influence is an important factor in the development and maintenance of many health-related behaviors.
Psychological Resources
Clearly, problem drinking, alcohol dependency, and other serious alcohol-related conditions should be addressed by enlisting an appropriately trained healthcare provider. But for causal drinkers, there are resources that can guide effective self-management strategies for those who decide that the risks to physical health posed by alcohol use outweigh any perceived benefits.
Interpreting and resolving conflicting information regarding the effects of drinking can be achieved by increasing one’s health literacy and critical thinking skills.
The benefits of addressing the cognitive dissonance created by conflicting personal beliefs regarding alcohol’s effects are the basis of a clinical approach to managing alcohol consumption known as motivational interviewing. Its guiding principles can be used to enhance efforts at self-management.
Cognitive behavioral therapy offers specific strategies for minimizing the effects of social pressure to drink. These include planning in advance of entering into situations in which drinking will occur to stop at a certain number of drinks or to consume specific low-alcohol or non-alcoholic beverages.
The readings listed below are an introduction to these and other techniques that may offer a way to make changes in alcohol use in the face of the emerging evidence.
Copyright 2025 Richard J. Contrada, Ph.D.
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