ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a critical analysis of the research on self-control and alcohol consumption. It establishes a link between self-control and alcohol consumption and discusses the major mechanisms of self-control failure to limit consumption. The chapter discusses the effects of alcohol consumption on self-control, which will include a discussion of the acute effects of intoxication, as well as the delayed effects alcohol has on affect and self-control and the long-term effects of chronic alcohol abuse on self-control. In addition to low self-control contributing to increased consumption of alcohol, the consumption of alcohol can lead to either immediate and/or lasting effects on self-control; in some cases, this may mediate further consumption. The consumption of alcohol also causes several acute neurological effects associated with low self-control. Overall, both correlational and laboratory research suggests that alcohol consumption is related to trait-level self-control as well as subject to state-level variations in self-control.
