As noted above, alcohol use in humans is largely a social phenomenon. Moreover, human pair bonding (and parenthood) is associated with both general decreases in alcohol consumption (“the marriage effect”) and reciprocal dyadic influences within the marital dyad (Leonard & Rothbard, 1999). Use of rat and rodent species that vary greatly from humans in both social activity and pair bonding may limit consilience and, thus, at least for studying some environmental influences, other species may be considered.
