Is Drinking Together More Fun? The Science of Shared Intoxication
Thursday, March 6, 2025.
By now, we all know that alcohol is basically social lubricant in a bottle.
It smooths out the rough edges, adds a touch of charisma you don’t actually possess, and makes that guy from accounting seem hilarious.
But is drinking with others actually more fun? Or is that just the booze whispering sweet nothings in your ear? A new study published in Psychopharmacology (Molla et al., 2024) suggests that, yes, alcohol makes social interactions feel better—but the magic really happens when both people are drinking.
This is great news if your idea of a good time involves cocktails and camaraderie. It’s also, perhaps, a cautionary tale.
Why We Drink Together: An Age-Old Tradition
From ancient Mesopotamians brewing barley beer to Charles Bukowski declaring that “when you drank, the world was still out there, but for the moment it didn’t have you by the throat,” alcohol has always been a social thing. And for good reason.
Scientists have long suspected that alcohol makes people feel more connected, but much of the research has been conducted in the most tragically unfun way possible: alone, in a lab, under fluorescent lighting.
This is a problem. Nobody drinks a martini in solitude under the glare of a research assistant’s clipboard unless they are auditioning for a role as a mid 20th-century novelist.
To correct this oversight, researchers at the University of Chicago decided to examine how alcohol influences actual human interactions—because, let’s face it, most of us aren’t sipping tequila alone in a vacuum (Molla et al., 2024).
The Study: Making Small Talk With Strangers, But Tipsy
Here’s how it went down.
The researchers recruited 37 participants (17 men, 20 women) who were all healthy social drinkers.
They were told they might receive alcohol, a stimulant, a sedative, a hallucinogen, or a placebo—which sounds like a really unpredictable cocktail party, Like one of Norman Mailer’s but was actually a clever way to prevent them from expecting any particular effects.
Each participant was paired with a partner and given either an alcoholic beverage or a placebo.
Then they were set loose for a casual 45-minute conversation. Researchers, presumably watching like Big Brother from the lab’s one-way mirror, analyzed their emotional responses using self-report questionnaires and a facial expression analysis tool that tracked real-time emotional changes (Molla et al., 2024).
What They Found: Alcohol is Basically a Like Button
Turns out, drinking makes conversations feel more enjoyable, regardless of whether the other person is drinking.
But when both people were buzzed?
That was when things got particularly warm and fuzzy. Participants felt more connected, thought their partner liked them more, and generally experienced a pleasant camaraderie, even if their conversation topics were objectively terrible.
Some key findings:
Alcohol increased amusement, joy, and excitement.
Alcohol reduced awkwardness and contempt (so that weird silence? Magically less painful).
Participants felt closer to their conversation partners.
Women’s emotional responses were particularly influenced by whether their partner was drinking.
This last one is interesting—women showed more positive facial expressions when their partner was also drinking, suggesting they may be more attuned to the “drug state” of others (Molla et al., 2024). Maybe it’s biological, maybe it’s millennia of social conditioning, maybe it’s the ingrained fear of being the only sober one at a frat party.
The Darker Side of Social Drinking
Of course, not all effects were positive.
While drinking made people feel more elated and energetic, it also increased feelings of anger and confusion. The line between “Let’s get another round!” and “What did you just say to me?” is alarmingly thin when alcohol is involved.
Also, let’s not forget the elephant in the room: alcohol makes people feel more connected, but does it actually make them be more connected?
Neuroscience suggests that while booze temporarily enhances feelings of bonding, it also impairs memory and cognitive function (Sayette et al., 2012). In other words, last night’s “soul-deep” conversation about why we don’t call our high school friends anymore may not hold up in the cold, sober light of day.
The Bukowski Effect: Alcohol as a Social Illusion
This study confirms something the great LA poet Charles Bukowski knew in his bones: alcohol has a way of softening reality. As he put it, “Drinking is a way of ending the day.” But is it a way of deepening our relationships? Or is it just a trick of chemistry, making us feel connected when, in fact, we’re just a little impaired?
The answer, as always, is both.
Shared intoxication can make people feel closer, but real connection is built in the sober moments too.
So, drink with friends if you must, but if your friendships only exist in the neon haze of a dive bar, you might want to rethink things.
Final Thoughts: Is Drinking Together Actually More Fun?
According to science, yes.
Shared intoxication amplifies the positive social effects of alcohol, making us feel more engaged, amused, and connected.
But it also makes us a bit delusional—so take your beer-fueled bonding with a grain of salt.
Bukowski might have needed a drink to get through the night, but if you find yourself needing alcohol to enjoy time with your friends, you might want to ask yourself: Do I actually like these people?
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
REFERENCES:
Molla, H., O’Neill, T., Hahn, E., Lee, R., & de Wit, H. (2024). Alcohol increases social engagement in dyadic interactions: Role of partner’s drug state. Psychopharmacology.
Sayette, M. A., Creswell, K. G., Dimoff, J. D., Fairbairn, C. E., Cohn, J. F., Heckman, B. W., & Moreland, R. L. (2012). Alcohol and group formation: A multimodal investigation of the effects of alcohol on emotion and social bonding. Psychological Science, 23(8), 869–878.