ABSTRACT
Social norms and expectations play a large part in influencing our behaviour whatever the context in which we find ourselves drinking. Norms are always evolving as society reviews what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable behaviour and ‘they may vary in different localities and situations, according to the social groups to which a person belongs, but in each case, failure to conform to norms may lead to ostracism’. In the motivational system, a person’s attitudes, values, and drives are important. Attitudes are ways of thinking, feeling, believing about, or reacting to a subject and are acquired during the process of socialization. Values are what an individual considers to be important and, in the case of drinking, might include valuing relaxation, the drug effect, the role of being a heavy drinker, or the conviviality of the public house.
