Shaken & Stirred: effect alcohol portrayals in movies on attitudes toward alcohol and self-alcohol associations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Little experimental researches have investigated how alcohol portrayal influences alcohol-related cognitions that could lead to long-term alcohol consumption. We identified two potential cognitive processes by which alcohol portrayals could lead to increased change in alcohol consumption: changes in implicit attitudes and association between the active self-concept and alcohol.Methods: We tested participants (n = 87) to see if incidental exposure to alcohol portrayals in movies resulted change in indirect measures of attitudes toward alcohol and self-alcohol association. Results showed that participants exposed to alcohol portrayals had more negative implicit attitudes toward alcohol after watching the movie.Results: Participants showed stronger self-alcohol association in the alcohol portrayal condition compared to the control condition, and this effect was stronger for participants that liked the James Bond series.Conclusions: Perspectives related to long term alcohol consumption are discussed.