Alcohol consumption as a self-handicapping strategy.

Two experiments evaluated the self-handicapping hypothesis that alcohol consumption varies directly with individuals uncertainty of their ability to perform successfully. In a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design, Experiment 1 manipulated (a) difficulty of an initial intellectual test (insolvable or solvable), (b) feedback regarding test performance (success or none), and (c) instructions regarding the difficulty of a retest (identical to or harder than the initial test). Ninety-six male normal drinkers then received access to an alcoholic beverage (self-handicapping option) and to study materials (performance-enchancing option). The experiment terminated before the retest. Results indicated that when a performance-enhancing option is available, subjects generally do not use alcohol to self-handicap. Experiment 2 omitted the study option and manipulated the test difficulty and retest instruction variables in a 2 X 2 factorial design. All 32 subjects received success feedback. Results showed that subjects use alcohol to self-handicap when denied access to a performance-enhancing option. With important qualifications, these data support the self-handicapping hypothesis of human drinking behavior. Inconsistent support for tension-reduction models of drinking behavior (cf. Cappell, 1975), which propose that persons consume alcohol to alleviate negative affect, has fostered alternative hypotheses that emphasize cognitive and contextual factors as determinants of human alcohol consumption