They need to "Man up!" - what students who drink think of those who don't

There's a scene in the 2013 comedy film The World's End in which a group of middle-aged old school friends are on a nostalgic pub crawl, yet one of them, Andy Knightly, insists on abstaining from alcohol. "I haven't had a drink for sixteen years Gary," he tells the ring-leader and lush Gary King. "You must be thirsty then," Gary retorts. This social dynamic - the reluctant non-drinker coerced to join in with the drinking majority - will be familiar to many readers. And given the health risks of excess alcohol consumption, it's also a scenario that's caught the attention of health psychologists. How are non-drinkers perceived? Does gender identity play a part in the pressure to drink? For a new study Dominic Conroy and Richard de Visser interviewed 12 middle-class undergrads aged 20 to 29. There were seven men and five women and all were regular drinkers. The semi-structured interviews, loosely guided towards discussion about non-drinkers, were conducted by a man in his early 30s. Three main themes emerged from the interviews - first, non-drinking was seen as something strange that required explanation. "It seems a bit alien, doesn't it?" said Tina. "It'll be like 'why are you not joining in? …. Why do you want to alienate?" said Andy. There were also signs of ambivalence. "… in a way respect but … in a way you're probably more likely to distance yourself from someone like that as well," said Penny. The second theme was that non-drinkers were seen as anti-social, but...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Source Type: blogs