angelophile | Mentioning alcohol triggers men's sex drive

By Mark Prigg Science Correspondent, Evening Standard
29 April 2005

Mentioning alcohol to a man is enough to trigger his sex drive, scientists have found.

A study at the University of Missouri found that even a reference to alcohol triggered the brain into finding women far more attractive than normal.

"This research shows that even if men aren't drinking but are merely exposed to alcoholrelated cues, those who expect that alcohol will make them want sex will rate women as more attractive," said Professor Ronald Friedman, who led the research. "In other words, we propose to have found a case of automatic 'beer goggling'."

Researchers tested 82 males ranging in age from 18 to 27. First, the subjects were split into two groups depending whether they thought alcohol affected their sex drive. One group was shown alcoholrelated words, such as "beer" and "keg" and the other saw words like "soda" and "coffee".

Then the men were shown pictures of women. Subjects in the "alcohol words" group found the women far more attractive.