Drinking and being drunk is linked to trusting others more if sharing an experience, finds new research from Corvinus University of Budapest.

Prof Giuseppe Attanasi from Corvinus University and colleagues interviewed more than 1800 attendees at a large music festival and measured alcohol consumption through a breathalyser and self-perceived intoxication. They also measured different types of trust: trust for others in general, trust for those taking part in a shared experience, and trust for drinkers at the same event.

The results show a positive and significant relationship between alcohol intoxication and trust towards other event participants and drinkers, but no correlation between intoxication and trust towards others in general.

Generalised trust decreases if the individual believes others are intoxicated; the thought of being surrounded by drunk people reduces trust more generally.

“This research speaks in favour of a sort of endogenous group formation, with drinkers trusting other attendees, and other drinkers, more as they are all part of a shared event where alcohol intake is widely accepted and considered almost a norm,” says Prof Attanasi.

Most participants also believe they are drinking less than other festival attendees. As alcohol intake helps an individual trust someone more who is also drinking, this can be seen as an acceptance of such group behaviour. If alcohol intake is perceived as a sign of belonging to the same group, this could explain why trust levels toward other drinkers are higher, explain the researchers.

Alcohol abuse is already widely understood as a health hazard, but these findings shed light on the behavioural effects of moderate social drinking.

These findings were published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.