February** Dynamic Incentive Program
It's often said that alcohol strengthens the guts, and alcohol is often a strong factor in frequent sexual activity before and during dating.
So how does alcohol affect the visual perception of physical attractiveness?
One influential view is that it undermines the ability to detect subtle bilateral asymmetries in the face, leading to more permissive judgments about the beauty of the body. And universal symmetry in nature is almost synonymous with beauty, from which the theory of "beer goggles" was born.
A study published by the University of Portsmouth in the Journal of Psychopharmacology shows that people are more likely to find someone attractive when they are drunk because their faces look more symmetrical. For decades, the term "beer goggles" has been used to describe a person who finds themselves sexually attracted to someone while drunk but not sober.
The study randomly rated 99 male and female*** customers on the attractiveness and symmetry of 18 faces. Alcohol had no effect on attractiveness judgments, but higher blood alcohol concentrations were associated with higher symmetry ratings. In addition, as is the case, heavily drunk people have a poor ability to distinguish between a natural face and a perfectly symmetrical face compared to a sober drinker. As expected, both male and female participants found natural faces to be more attractive than groomed ones. But surprisingly, female participants made attractiveness and symmetry judgments faster than men.
The study was somewhat flawed in that it only used static**, not living people. Because static images hide a series of important visual criteria of appeal, including stature, body shape, height, expressions, and clothing, among others.
To be on the safe side, it's always right to drink less.
Reference: Alistair J Harvey, Ciara Whitekathleen Madelin, and Ed Morrison, "Impaired Facial Symmetry Detection Under Alcohol Without the Beer Goggle Effect," December 7, 2023, Journal of Psychopharmacology. Document Number: 101177/02698811231215592.