The relationship between sexuality-related alcohol expectancies and drinking across cultures more

This study aims to examine the link between positive expectancies about the effects of drinking on sexual feelings and drinking across countries. Similari-ties and differences between women and men also receive special attention. The study uses representative surveys conducted between 1995 and 2004 of 11 countries participating in the GENACIS project (Gender, Alcohol and Culture: an International Study). The methods used are cross-country comparisons of frequencies of reporting three expectancy-items and exploratory multiple regression analyses of the relationship between expectancies about the effect of drinking on sexual feelings and the natural logarithm of annual volume (grams 100 % alcohol) consumed. The results show that the percentage of women drinkers varies considerably across the countries surveyed. Within each country, we found both gender differences and gender similarities as concerns the sex-expectancy questions. In overall levels of reporting the expectancies, we found country differences. The Czech Republic, Uganda and Nigeria are the countries with the highest levels of reporting all three expectancies, while Uruguay and Spain are the countries with the lowest levels of reporting all three expectancies. Likewise, the multiple regression analyses show varying patterns across countries. It is suggested that more research on the cultural connections between sexuality and drinking in these countries is needed. Simple multiple regression models do not suffice to describe the relationship between expectancies about alcohol’s effects on sexual feelings and drinking. But, the study points to some countries that would be specifically interesting or important for case studies, such as the Czech Republic, Uganda, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and India.