A new study suggests that the shape of the wine glass and the color of the wine itself affect our alcohol intake. Researchers linked it to people’s inability to assess volumes and proportions accurately.
Laura Smarandescu, one of the study authors and a marketing professor from Iowa State University, and her colleagues involved 73 participants consisting of students and university staffs to test their hypothesis that shape affects the alcohol consumption of the drinkers.
The participants took a glass of wine per day for one week. They were told to pour the wine on the assigned glass to them depending on what they think is a normal glass of wine.
The researchers observed that those assigned to use a wide glass poured 12 percent more than those assigned to use a narrow wine glass. In another experiment, those asked to pour the wine while holding the glass also poured 12 percent more than those who poured while the glass was on the table.
“People have trouble assessing volumes,” Smarandescu said in a statement.
The last experiment they did was to test if colors matter too. The participants were given red and white wines. They observed that people pour nine percent more when taking white wine compared to red wine.
These experiments prove that most people drink more than what they planned because of challenges in assessing the volume and proportions of what they drink. It may explain why some people get drunk even with just a glass of wine. However, the participants said that they were sure they were accurate during the experiments.
“If a person thinks about how much wine he drinks based on the number of glasses, that could be a problem,” co-author Douglas Walker said in a statement. “One person’s two is totally different than another person’s two.”
The study was published in the online journal Substance Use and Misuse.
