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Abstract
Alcohol consumption's influence on perceptions of social behavior increases the chances of misunderstandings and negative consequences in sexual and flirtatious interactions, but previous alcohol studies have not specifically focused on women's perceptions of men's flirtatious nonverbal behavior. Using a field-administered questionnaire, this study examined drinking (N = 120) and nondrinking (N = 134) women's perceptions of three types of immediate contact enacted by an attractive or unattractive flirtatious man. Results were consistent with alcohol's social lubrication effect in that drinking women expected a higher degree of immediacy than did nondrinking women. Consistent with nonverbal expectancy violations theory, perceptions of men who engaged in unexpected behavior were influenced by the man's physical attractiveness and violation immediacy.
This article is based, in part, on the second author's senior honors thesis directed by the first author. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association at Miami Beach, November 2003.