Alcohol consumption and the occurrence and severity of aggression: an event-based analysis of male to male barroom violence

Although a considerable body of experimental research supports the contention that alcohol facilitates aggression, some investigators have argued that these findings cannot be generalized to actual occurrences of aggression. Moreover, controversy continues concerning whether expectancies supporting alcohol's influence on aggression moderate the relationship. The present study is an event‐based examination of the relationship between alcohol consumption, personality characteristics, contextual variables, and the occurrence and severity of male‐to‐male bar aggression. Men (n=190) who experienced either a physically aggressive episode or an incident of threat in a bar were assessed with respect to stable individual difference factors, such as personality factors, trait anger, and alcohol‐aggression expectancies. The participants were also interviewed about the circumstances surrounding the most severe episode of bar aggression or threat that occurred in the past year. Logisitic regression analyses indicated that while alcohol consumption did not predict the occurrence of aggression, heavy alcohol consumption by the participant and the opponent was associated with aggression severity and physical harm, and that this relationship was present after controlling for personality and situational factors. The belief that alcohol was a cause of aggression was associated with the occurrence of aggression, but it was not related to severity or harm, and did not appear to moderate the alcohol‐aggression relationship. These results suggest that alcohol expectancies may facilitate the occurrence of aggression. However, the results also support the contention that alcohol use may contribute to the severity of aggression occuring in bar contexts. Aggr. Behav. 29:346–365, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc..