Resolving an identity crisis: Implicit drinking identity and implicit alcohol identity are related but not the same

Abstract

Two variations of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Drinking Identity IAT and the Alcohol Identity IAT, assess implicit associations held in memory between one's identity and alcohol-related constructs. Both have been shown to predict numerous drinking outcomes, but these IATs have never been directly compared to one another. The purpose of this study was to compare these IATs and evaluate their incremental predictive validity. US undergraduate students (N=64, 50% female, mean age=21.98years) completed the Drinking Identity IAT, the Alcohol Identity IAT, an explicit measure of drinking identity, as well as measures of typical alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking. When evaluated in separate regression models that controlled for explicit drinking identity, results indicated that the Drinking Identity IAT and the Alcohol Identity IAT were significant, positive predictors of typical alcohol consumption, and that the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, was a significant predictor of hazardous drinking. When evaluated in the same regression models, the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, was significantly associated with typical and hazardous drinking. These results suggest that the Drinking Identity IAT and Alcohol Identity IAT are related but not redundant. Moreover, given that the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, incrementally predicted variance in drinking outcomes, identification with drinking behavior and social groups, as opposed to identification with alcohol itself, may be an especially strong predictor of drinking outcomes.