Exploring the Decision to Drink (More) Alcohol Following Manipulations of Stress and Social Context

Behavioral data:

Our first set of hypotheses tests whether the decision is influenced by stress and social context:

H1a: Stress affects the decision between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, so that participants in the stress conditions choose alcoholic over non-alcoholic drinks more often compared to participants in the no stress conditions.

H1b: Social context affects the decision between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, so that participants in the social conditions choose alcoholic over non-alcoholic drinks more often compared to participants in the alone conditions.

H1c: We test two competing predictions:

(I) The effect of stress on the decision between alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks is modulated by social context, so that the effect of stress is stronger for participants that are in the social condition.

(II) The effect of stress on the decision between alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks is modulated by social context, so that the effect of stress is weaker for participants that are in the social condition

Drift diffusion modeling:

Our second set of hypotheses test how the decision might be influenced by stress and social context:

H2a: Stress affects the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is more positive for participants in the stress conditions.

H2b: Social context affects the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is more positive for participants in the social conditions.

H2c: Stress and social context have an interactive effect on the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is either more or less positive for stressed participants who are in the social condition (in line with H1c).

Inclusion criteria

• Drinking alcohol at least once a week
• Consuming 4 (female) or 5 (male) drinks in one occasion at least once a month

Exclusion criteria

• Currently pregnant or trying to become pregnant
• Past or current treatment for alcohol use
• Past or current medical condition that contraindicates alcohol use
• Past or current reaction to alcohol that contraindicates alcohol use
• Past or current medication that contraindicates alcohol use