Music Makes the Ladies Drink Faster

Ever wonder why there is loud music playing in so many bars, even though it makes it almost impossible to have a conversation? Newly published research suggests one good reason: It inspires faster drinking, at least among young women.

That's the key finding of a study from the University of Portsmouth, which found this dynamic was consistent whether the music playing was fast or slow. It is published in the October issue of the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology.

Psychologists Lorenzo Stafford and Hannah Dodd report that, in their experiment, "music caused a mismatch between the objective breath alcohol levels and the perceived alcohol strength." In other words, it appears to disrupt drinkers' realization of their own level of intoxication.