Attitudes Toward Problem Drinkers: Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Intention Dimensions

Attitudes toward problem drinkers were investigated in an experiment utilizing a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 multivariate analysis of variance design. Subjects read one of eight case vignettes about hypothetical stimulus persons and then completed verbal report inventories to assess attitudes. All vignettes were identical except for references to the stimulus person's drinking behavior (problem or nonproblem drinking), sex, and socioeconomic status (upper-middle or low). Sex of the rater was the other independent variable in the four-way design. Problem drinking elicited a powerful halo effect such that attitudes toward persons exhibiting such behavior were found to be negative relative to normal drinkers in all attitudinal domains and across almost all variables measured. Drinking behavior may have exerted such a strong effect that the potential influence of the other variables was overpowered.