Why does drinking alcohol increase aggressive behavior?
• There is some evidence to suggest that drinking leads to increased aggressiveness because it lowers inhibitions, including those that would normally prevent aggressive behavior. • Alcohol also impairs judgment and may cause people to overreact to perceived threats or to fail to consider the future risks of an impulsive violent response.39 • Drinking may also increase aggression because people expect it to. In studies where people were told that their beverage contained alcohol, they began to act more aggressively, regardless of whether their beverage actually did contain alcohol or not.40,41 • In addition, it may be that some people drink when they intend to engage in violence in order to bolster their courage or in hopes of using alcohol as an excuse for the violence.42,43 • Finally, as mentioned earlier, people who drink a lot are also likely to engage in other risky behaviors, including fighting and weapon-carrying.
