Social Context and the Accessibility of Alcohol-Related Concepts in Memory

The majority of alcohol use occurs in a social context, and emergent research suggests that the use of alcohol in a social context may be central to alcohol’s reinforcing effects; however, the relationship between social context and alcohol-related learning remains poorly understood. Contexts that are frequently paired with alcohol use become enmeshed with alcohol-related memory networks that are elicited in drinking-relevant situations and guide alcohol use behaviors. The presence of others may be an important environmental signal that potentiates alcohol-related memory networks and shapes drinking behavior. The present study examined whether the mere presence of others, relative to a solitary context, increases the accessibility of alcohol-related concepts in memory. Participants were 108 undergraduate social drinkers, and were randomly assigned to either the mere presence of others or a solitary context. Participants completed implicit measures of accessibility of alcohol-related concepts as well as self-reported measures of alcohol habits and preferences, desire to drink, and personality variables. ANCOVAs were used to examine the effects of social context on accessibility of alcohol-related concepts and desire to drink, with relevant personality and alcohol use variables as moderators. Social context was not significantly associated with accessibility of alcohol-related concepts in memory, and no significant moderators of this relationship were found. Social context did not predict increased desire to consume alcohol. These results indicate that the mere presence of others, in the absence of explicitly alcohol-related information, does not orient cognition and behavior towards alcohol use