Expectancy effects can be manipulated: Drinkers instructed to “try and stay sober” demonstrated superior hand coordination and recall memory performance compared with those not so motivated (Young & Pihl, 1980). Lower numbers of positive alcohol expectancies and reduced consumption have been linked to fewer binge-drinking episodes, whereas negative expectancies were not (Blume, Schmaling, & Marlatt, 2003). Alcohol expectancies and drinking refusal self-efficacy have been proposed to be significant predictors of drinking styles. Binge drinkers (≥6/4 drinks per drinking period) were characterized as either having positive (are able to refuse drinks easily) or negative (unable to stop drinking) drinking refusal self-efficacy. A model derived from these observations “predicts that social and binge drinkers can be discriminated on the basis of their alcohol expectancies, while binge drinkers and alcoholics can be discriminated on the basis of drinking refusal self-efficacy” (Oei & Morawska, 2004, p. 173). Thus, beliefs about alcohol effects appear to contribute to the experience of drinking.
