Motivations for drunkenness: a leisure perspective

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to explore motivations for drunkenness. To achieve this, a non-pathological perspective view of drinking was taken. Drinking and drunkenness were modelled as freely chosen and intrinsically enjoyable leisure activity. A review of the relevant research indicated that a major reason why drunkenness might be pleasurable is because it is a "time out" in which behaviour and feelings that would usually be repressed can be indulged in and engaged with. Forty hours of observations were made in fourteen pubs and clubs in Wellington. These revealed that such places allowed, or perhaps even facilitated, increased sociability and uninhibited behaviour. Eight interviews were then conducted with regular drinkers between twenty and twenty-four years of age. The interviews discussed the participants' experience of, and motivations for, drinking and drunkenness. Drunkenness was generally described as a positive and enjoyable experience. There was ample evidence that it formed a "time out" from other, more serious contexts. All of the participants stated or implied at some point during their interviews that when intoxicated they had feelings of "being in the moment." This idea was summarised with the notion of engagement with experience. Engagement was hypothesised to be a major motivation for drunkenness. This is a pleasurable state in which people engage with their emotions and desires by a focus on their immediate surroundings and feelings. Based on this concept, three areas for future study were recommended.