Abstract

My study wanted to investigate personality variables  associated with the development of  alcoholism. Fromme& Rivet 1994 found that individuals with avoidant coping styles were more likely to have difficultly with excessive alcohol consumption when compared to vigilant coperss.  Cook, 1998 found a positive correlation between  extroversion and alcohol consumption difficulties.  It was my thinking that, based on previous research studies, that individual that were  extroverted, avoidant copers would have more difficulty with alcohol consumption than those who were exvigilant   A 2 (Personality Type) x 2 (Coping Behavior) an analysis of variance was conducted.  It was predicted that extroverts would have an alcohol consumption difficulty. Also, avoidant copers would have a alcohol consumptions problems when compared to vigilant. The personality variable should interact such that alcohol consumption difficulties would  be greatest for the extroverted-avoidant coper and least for the introverted-vigilant coper. These predictions were supported by my data..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alcohol Consumption: Personality Type and Coping Behavior 

 A growing body of research has explored alcohol consumption with personality type. Research has shown that extroverted individuals are those who are generally sociable, active and out going (Eysenck, 1976). A general definition of introversion and extroversion is a dimension of personality concerned with a person’s general level of activity and sociability (Burger 2000). Eysenck’s biologically based theory describes introverts as people who are generally quiet, reserved and thoughtful.  They are thought to have relatively higher level of brain arousal, which causes them to shy away from over stimulating social environments.  Research has demonstrated a positive correlation between that of extroversion and alcohol consumption. (Cook 1998). 

 It has been found that the development of proper coping strategies is essential to the recovery of substance abusers. Coping strategies are cognitive, behavioral, or physiological processes that help a person deal with everyday stressful or unpleasant information. People who are classified as having avoidant coping behaviors prefer not to be aware of negative information, so they distract themselves from all negative situations. This type of person worries less because they do not dwell on this negative information (Burns, Dittman, Ngoc-Loan, & Mitchelson 2001). Previous research has found that people with this type of behavior have certain negative characteristics, such as procrastination, problems with time management (Milgram, Marshevsky & Sadeh, 1995), task aversive ness (Milgram, Batori, & Mowrer, 1993), thrill seeking, and intolerance of arousal (Krohne’s, 1989, 1993).

People who are classified as having a vigilant coping style are more likely to exaggerate threatening information in situations of high anxiety and stress, and are more likely to seek medical help most of the time unnecessarily.  Vigilant behavior causes people to actively seek information about health care (Miller, 1996), and  are highly disposed to preparation and preventative control and show a need for as much information as possible before beginning a new task (Burger & Cooper1979).

. Extensive research has been done on alcohol; one such study examined the relationship between coping and alcohol expectancies and drinking refusal and how accurately the participant could predict their drinking behavior (Hasking, 2002.).  A second study focused on the role of stress in alcohol use, alcoholism, treatment and relapse. This study presents information on a study which examined the role that stress plays in the amount of alcohol a person consumes. This study also reviews the neurobiological connections between stress and addiction and the connection between stress and relapse (Brady 1999).  These studies are important to the present research because they support the fact that personality and coping are important the the recovery of substance abusers. Handling stress in a healthy way depends on a their knowledge and use of coping strategies. Many substance abusers use alcohol as a way of coping with stress.

Some methods of coping are predictive of alcohol consumption (Fromme& Rivet 1994). Fromme and Rivet (1994) found that avoidance coping was found to predict increased levels of alcohol consumption. Research has been done in this area with alcoholics in treatment and their chances of a relapse. The goal of this research is to find if these two variables will influence their likely hood to develop alcoholism since it is influential on their recovery after the progression of the disease.

 A 2x2 investigation was conducted to examine the interaction of personality and coping skills and how it will affect the quantity and frequency of consumption of alcohol.   It is hypothesized that there will be an interaction between personality type and coping behaviors, so that an individual’s alcohol consumption will depend on whether or not they are an extrovert or introvert and whether or not they employ an avoidant or vigilant coping strategy.

This research hypothesized that there is a main effect of personality type on alcohol consumption so that extroverted individuals will have a higher score on the alcohol consumption questionnaire than introverted individuals. In addition, it was hypothesized that there is a main effect for coping behavior, so that avoidant individuals consume more alcohol than vigilant individuals. 

Method

Participants

Participants consisted of a random sample of 40 undergraduate students (20 women and 20 men) who volunteered to participate. These participants who have completed the questionnaires will receive extra credit points in their psychology classes if they are psychology students. Volunteers were treated according to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct” (American Psychological Association, 1992).

 

Questionnaires

The Ways of Coping Checklist (Lazarus and Folkman 1984) was used to determine the participants’ coping behavior. The NEO-PI was used to separate the participants into two groups, introverts and extraverts. The Khavari Alcohol Test (KAT: Khavari and Farber, 1978) this test will be used to measure both the average frequency of alcohol consumption and the volume of alcohol consumed per year. This test consists of 12 questions in reference to the participants’ usual and maximum drinking patterns.  

 

Procedure

 Participants completed the aforementioned questionnaires. The Ways of Coping Checklist (Lazarus and Folkman 1984), The NEO-PI The Khavari Alcohol Test (KAT: Khavari and Farber, 1978).   After completion of these questionnaires participants received a debriefing statement and any questions were answered by the researcher. 

 

Results

 

      Extroverted avoidant subjects were found to consume the most alcohol (M = 92.2, SD = 29.1). Extroverted vigilant subjects consumed the second most of the four groups (M = 63.1, SD = 29.1) Introverted avoidant subjects (M = 41.2, SD = 16.9) were found to consume more than Introverted vigilants. A 2 (Personality Type) x 2 (Coping Behavior) analysis of variance was conducted to determine significance of data.  Two main effects and an interaction were found statistically significant. An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests.   A main effect of coping behavior was o found such that subjects with avoidant coping skill consume more alcohol than those with vigilant coping styles, F (1, 36)  =  83.300,  p<  0.05.   .  There was also a main effect for introversion  with the  extroverted personality consuming more alcohol then introverted personality types in this study, F (1, 36) = 317.454,  p<  0.05.  There also was a significant interaction between the two independent variables personality (extroversion, introversion) and coping behavior (avoidant, vigilant) where Extroverted personality types with avoidant coping styles consumed alcohol with the greatest frequency and quantity then did Introverted vigilant.  F (1, 36)  =  5.859,   p <  0.05 See  Figure 1.

 

 

Discussion

         The findings in this research are congruent with the findings of previous research. A main effect for personality was found, demonstrating that personality type does have an effect on the amount of alcohol a person will consume. Subjects with an extroverted personality consume more alcohol then introverted personality types in this study. A main effect of personality supports Cook’s (1998) findings that personality does have an effect on the amount of alcohol a person consumes. Also Cook (1998) found that extroverts consume more alcohol than introverts which is also supported by this research.   There was a main effect of coping styles also found. This research found that subjects with avoidant coping skill consume more alcohol than those with vigilant coping styles. Past research (Fromme & Rivet 1994) had found that avoidant coping styles indicates increased levels of alcohol consumption. As was hypothesized by this research the interaction of personality and coping behavior has an effect on the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption. Extroverted personality types with avoidant coping styles consumed alcohol with the greatest frequency and quantity of all four groups. From this we can conclude that subjects who are extroverted and who exhibit avoidant behaviors are more likely to develop a drinking problem. These findings are important to the collective knowledge about what contributes to the development of alcoholism.  Previous research has been done to examine how personality and coping skills contribute to the chances of relapse. It is critical to recovery of patients to identify the triggers associated with their substance or alcohol abuse.  This research may help with the identification of the underlying problem that is a contributing factor to their illness. The information in the study reinforces the findings of previous research and points out populations of people who may be at risk. This research does not suggest that these are the only factors into the development of alcoholism, but these may be contributing factors, many other areas should be examined or studied in relationship to the variables in this research. Some such areas that should be considered are self esteem, social anxiety, self efficacy.. Also further research should be done on the use of alcohol and other substances as a way of coping with stress inducing or negative situations. Alcohol expectancies are also important to examine in relation to coping behavior.

 

 

 

References

Burger, Jerry M. (2000). Personality (5th ed). United States: Wadsworth.

Burns, Lawrence R., Dittman, Katherine, N- Gol Loan, Nguyen. (2001).  Mitchelson, Jaqueline K.; Academic Procrastination, perfectionism and Control Association, Vigilant and Avoidant Coping.   Vol.16, issue 1, p35.

Cook ,M., Young, A., Taylor, D. B., Anthony P. (1998). Personality Correlates of Alcohol Consumption. 24(5), 641-647.

Eysenck, S.B.G., & Eysenck, H.J. (1964), An improved short questionnaire for the measurement of extroversion and neuroticism, Life Sciences, 3, 1103-1109.

 Fromme, K. and Rivet, K. (1994).Young adults’ Coping Style as a Predictor of their Alcohol use in Response to Daily Events. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 23, 85-97.

Hasking, P.A.(2002). The Differential Role of Alcohol Expectancies, Drinking Refusal, Self efficacy and Coping Resources In Predicting Alcohol Consumption In Community and Clinical Samples, Addiction Research Theory, 10 (5), 465-95

Khavari, K., and Farber, P., (1978). A Profile instrument for the qualification and assessment of alcohol consumption: The Khavari Alcohol Test. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 39 1525-1539.

Krohne, H.W. (1989). The concept of coping modes: relating cognitive person variables to actual coping behavior. Advances in behavioral research and therapy, 11, 235-248.

Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal and Coping. (New York: Springer).

Milgram, Batori, G., & Mowrer, D. (1993). Correlates of Academic Procrastination. Journal of School Psychology, 31, 487-500.

Milgram, N., Marshevsky, S., & Sadeh, C. (1995). Correlates of Academic Probation: Discomfort, Task Aversiveness, and Task Capability. The Journal of Psychology, 129, 145-155.

Miller, S.M. (1996)Monitoring and Blunting threatening information:Cognitive interference and Facilitation in the Coping Process. In Sarason, I., Sarason, B., & Pierce, G. (Eds.), Cognitive Interference: Theories, methods, and findings. Hillside, New Jersey: Erlbaum

Miller, S.M., Combs, C. Kruus, L. (1993). Tuning in and Taming out: Confronting the effects of Confrontation. Seattle, WA and Toronto: Hogrefe & Huber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1 Means of Alcohol Consumption for across Introversion and Coping Personalities.

 

Introversion

Extroversion

Avoidant

41.2

92.2

Vigilant

24.3

63.1

 

 

 

 

 

 





























Figure 1. Alcohol Consumption and Level  of Introversion and Coping Style

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Figure1 There is a main effect of personality and alcohol consumption.  Extroverts consume more then introverts and avoidant subjects consume more than vigilant. There is an interaction of personality and coping styles.