An Empirical Test of ‘A Cultural Delusion of Alcoholics’

A study by Schaefer (1971) has been misreported as showing a relationship between alcoholics' beliefs and their behaviour when only a relationship between two beliefs had been demonstrated. Schaefer found that alcoholics who believed in the “first drink, then drunk” dictum were less likely to profess to be able to drink socially. The present study extends this finding by demonstrating that such alcoholics were less likely to be classified as harmfree drinkers 6 mo. following termination of abstinence-oriented treatment.