The effects of alcohol-intoxication on emotion perception and online awareness

Alcohol-intoxication is implicated in negative social behaviours, however the mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood. Impaired emotion perception following alcohol consumption may partially account for this link, however limited methodology in prior studies undermines the efficacy of this explanation. The current study investigated the effect of acute high-dose alcohol-intoxication on emotion perception, across a broad array of primary and secondary emotion types (positive: amused, caring, confident, enjoyment, excited, flirtatious, happy, interested, positively surprised, proud, relieved; negative: angry, annoyed, baffled/unsure, contempt, disinterested/bored, disgusted, fearful/anxious, negatively surprised, sad, shy, and suspicious) depicted in contextualised video vignettes. Self-appraisals of performance accuracy were also investigated. Sixty-eight participants consumed either a placebo or beverage containing alcohol. The Complex Audio Visual Emotion Assessment Task (CAVEAT) assessed emotion perception ability. Anticipatory performance accuracy and emergent confidence judgements were made on the CAVEAT. Emotion perception ability and emergent confidence judgements did not differ across conditions. However, alcohol-intoxicated individuals' anticipatory performance accuracy was more aligned to their actual performance than individuals who received a placebo beverage. Overall, these results suggest that (1) the addition of contextual information may compensate for any pending deficits in perception of facial emotional expressions; and (2) the questioning of performance accuracy may prompt intoxicated individuals to become more aware of their impending deficits, which may lead to better monitoring of task performance and improved performance. Implications for current theory and government policy are discussed.