While some college women drink to excess to impress guys, a new study shows that college men actually find excessive alcohol intake in women unappealing. The study uncovers a dangerous disconnect between the attitudes of college men and women about women’s drinking that could be responsible for health problems ranging from hangovers to alcohol poisoning.

Researchers at Loyola Marymount University and the University of Washington recruited 3,616 students ages 18 to 25 to complete an online survey during the 2007 fall semester. The women participants answered questions about how many drinks they thought a typical college man would like his female friends to drink at a typical event, as well as the maximum number of drinks they thought the men would like their female friends to drink. The women were also asked how many drinks they thought a woman would have to consume for a guy to consider being friends with her, for him to consider dating her, or for him consider her sexually attractive. The men were asked their actual preferences.

The results, published in the March issue of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, showed that 71 percent of the women surveyed overestimated the amount of alcohol they thought men would want them to drink. On average, the women overestimated by one-and-a-half drinks. Additionally, while 26 percent of women said that men would most likely want to be friends with a woman who drinks five or more drinks and 16 percent said that men would be most sexually attracted to a woman who drank that much alcohol, both estimates were nearly double what the men actually preferred. Perhaps most importantly, the researchers found that the women who overestimated the men's preferences were also the ones more likely to engage in excessive drinking.

The results may help explain why binge drinking among college women has recently increased twice as much as it has in men. While these women may be drinking to excess in order to "keep up with" the guys, women as a group are actually more vulnerable to alcohol intoxication than men because of their metabolism and physical makeup.

The researchers believe that universities and other public health organizations could use the insights gained from the study to help curb binge drinking among young women. They are currently working on a follow-up study on how much alcohol men think women want them to drink to see if their perceptions have a similar effect on increased risky drinking.

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_{Photo: David Boyle in DC, Flickr, Creative Commons}