A new study has found that the more alcohol you think you have had will increase your opinion of how sexy you are – even if the drink doesn’t actually contain alcohol in it.

Psychologists at the Pierre-Mendes France University found that the higher the amount of alcohol a person believes they had increases their views of their own attractiveness.

The study led by Laurent Begue in the city of Grenoble found that people rate themselves higher if they think they had an alcoholic beverage, regardless of whether or not booze was indeed mixed in the drink.

The researchers conducted two parts to the study to determine how people judged themselves depending on what they think they had to drink

Begue said to AFP: ‘Our study shows that the mere fact of believing that you have drunk alcohol makes you feel more attractive.’

The first part consisted of 19 people who were drinking. Two-thirds of the group were men.

They were asked to determine how sexy they were from a score of one to seven.

A breathalyser checked their alcohol levels.

The more they drank, the better they would rate themselves.

The second phase of the experiment included having a group of 94 men to taste-test a new fruit cocktail.

The participants were led to believe that they would be testing the drink for a research firm. Instead, they would be used in the scientists’ research.

The group was split into two, and they were told half would be given a version of the cocktail that was alcoholic and the other half would get a liquour-free version.

They men had to then come up with and deliver a message on film to be used as ‘advertisements’ for the company they thought they were helping with their research.

They had to rate their performance of the taped messages, which they later watched, on how attractive, bright, original and humourous they thought they were.

The levels of alcohol participants had ranged from none to twice the legal limit for driving.

Those people who thought they had alcohol gave themselves high marks, even if they didn’t drink.

On the other hand, the people who didn’t think they had any alcohol – even if they did – scored themselves lower.

The study indicates that people correlate their level of how attractive they think they are with how much they drink.

Begue said: ‘The concept of alcohol is linked to social lubrification, to making you feel at ease with others.’

But how other people view you when you think you have been drinking may differ greatly.

Some of the men in the study gave poor marks to the men who thought they were sexy.

The study will be published soon in the British Journal of Psychology.

Source: Daily Mail