The Effects of Alcohol on Relationship Satisfaction

Kayla Green & Amanda KellarHanover College

Once Upon a Time…•There was a guy named Steve. Steve had a

girlfriend named Sally and they loved drinking together with friends. On any given night Steve and Sally would be having a great time until something went wrong and they began to fight. Steve would then punch the wall and Sally would run out of the room crying. The next day Steve and Sally would say “I’m sorry, I love you, I was drunk”.

•Where have you heard this story before?•Who here knows a Steve or Sally?

Drinking Relationship Satisfaction•Trust • Jealousy•Conflict and Aggression

Jealousy

Trust

RelationshipSatisfaction

Conflict

Drinking

Alcohol Myopia•An increase in jealousy, mistrust, and

conflict between couples while drinking can be linked to alcohol myopia which is, “a lack of foresight or discernment: a narrow view of something [while drinking]” ▫(Hacker, 2011)

•Explanation of how alcohol makes social responses more extreme.▫(Steele and Josephs, 1990)

Jealousy •A cognitive, emotional, and behavioral

response that occurs when the existence and/or quality of a person’s primary relationship is perceived as being threatened by a third party ▫(White&Mullen, 1989)

• Alcohol consumption may increase the possibility of one-night stands or other

unfaithful actions. On the perceivers end it could make them more likely to jump to conclusions and increase suspicion.

Jealousy

Trust

Relationship

Satisfaction

Conflict

Drinking

Trust•Trust defined using three factors

▫Predictability: The confidence you have in your partner’s ability to be reliable.

▫Dependability: The assurance you have in your partner in case of unforeseen potential hurt.

▫Faith: The feeling of certainty that your partner will be responsive and caring

in the face of an uncertain future. (Rempel et.al 1985)

Jealousy

Trust

Relationship

Satisfaction

Conflict

Drinking

Conflict •MacDonald et al. (1999)

▫Romantic partners randomly assigned to consume alcohol or not and then argue about a topic.

▫Intoxicated participants reported more negative emotion surrounding the conflict and a more negative perceptionof their partner’s feelings. Intoxicated participants also blamed their partners more for the conflict incident

Jealousy

Trust

Relationship

Satisfaction

Conflict

Drinking

Hypotheses

• Higher levels of alcohol consumption will be found with lower levels of relationship satisfaction.

• This relation will be mediated by jealousy, conflict, and mistrust.

Participants

•Hanover College students currently in a relationship.

•Every third student from the Hanover College population was randomly selected. ▫N= 70 total responses▫Approximately 2 were omitted▫Male: N=15 Female: N= 55

Method Overview•Recruit participants by email• Informed consent •Online survey (Labeled “College

Experiences”)▫Total number of questions: 46▫Demographics: 4▫Alcohol consumption: 4▫Jealousy: 12▫Conflict: 10▫Trust: 9▫Relationship Satisfaction: 7

•Debriefing form

Alcohol Consumption

•Wechsler et al. (2002)•“What is the number of times you have

drank alcohol in the last 2 weeks?”•“How many drinks do you typically have

when you do drink?”•Calculated a measure of consumption

based on (Frequency x Amount)

Jealousy Scale

•Pfeiffer (1989)•“I suspect my partner is secretly seeing

someone of the opposite sex.”•“I worry that someone of the opposite sex

may be chasing after my partner.”•alpha = 0.85

Revised Conflict Scale

•Straus et al. (1979)•“I respect my partner’s feelings.”

(reversed)•“I have shouted at my partner.”•alpha = 0.66

Trust Scale•Rempel et al. (1985)•“My partner has proven to be trustworthy

and I am willing to let him/her engage in activities which other partners find too threatening.”

•“I am never certain that my partner won’t do something that I dislike or will embarrass me.” (reversed)

•alpha = 0.83

Relationship Satisfaction Scale

•Burns (1993)•“I am satisfied with the communication

within my relationship.”•“I am satisfied with the openness within

my relationship.”•alpha = 0.83

Mediation Analysis

This is a way to test whether the relationship between two variables X and Y can be explained by a third variable M.

(David Kenny, 2012)

Alcohol Consumption

RelationshipSatisfaction

Trust-.0010.76**

** p<.001

.003

RelationshipSatisfaction

Alcohol Consumption

Conflict.003 -.89 **

.003

RelationshipSatisfaction

Alcohol Consumption

Jealousy.001 -.46 **

.0031

Mediation Results

Scatter Plot

Limitations

•The length of relationship was low.•College sample•The measure of alcohol consumption is

limited by self-report. •Our questions were directed towards the

opposite sex. Did not leave room for homosexual relationships.

•Putting a time frame such as “in the last 2 weeks” may have hurt our data.

Future Direction• There may be a threshold or tipping point

of alcohol consumption where it starts to negatively impact relationships. More participants who consume alcohol on a regular basis and in higher frequencies may deliver more compelling results.

Questions?

Histogram