Sunday, January 30, 2011

Beer goggles really DO make the opposite sex more desirable

Anyone who has woken up hungover after a heavy night's drinking doesn't need telling that 'beer goggles' really do make other people look more attractive.

Sobering evidence has come to light which confirms beauty is very much in the eye of the beer holder, rather than the beholder.

A survey in Australia has found that men and women's judgement about the opposite sex was quite different to how they felt when sober.

Night out: The new study says one in four people find others more attractive when under the influence of alcohol

Night out: The new study says one in four people find others more attractive when under the influence of alcohol

The poll of more than 1,000 people aged 20-69 found a third of drinkers felt more attractive after sinking a few beers while one in four thought other people were better looking.

But just three percent of women thought men who had had a few drinks were attractive, while less than 10 per cent of men said females who had been drinking looked good.

These findings come on the back of a similar study by Bristol University, which involved male and female volunteers being randomly allocated either a drink of vodka and lime or a similar-tasting soft drink.

Half an hour later, they were asked to rate the attractiveness of 20 male and 20 female faces on a seven-point scale.

Those who had been drinking alcohol scored the faces around 10 per cent higher than those who had not.

Researchers found as little as a pint and a half of beer is enough to make everyone seem more desirable.

Men are worst affected, with their vision distorted or their 'goggles' lasting for as long as 24 hours after a heavy drinking session.

Experts believe that alcohol stimulates the striatum, an area of the brain that plays an important role in attraction.

But it's not just alcohol that is to blame.

In another study at Manchester University, researchers concluded that light levels in pubs and clubs, the beholder's eyesight and closeness in proximity to the object of their desire all played a part in the 'beer goggles' effect.

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