Informal Social Control of Drinking in Intimate Relationships—A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

A number of studies have shown that pressure from others is an important element in decision making concerning entering treatment and that the pressure most often comes from one's partner. Is has also been found that, besides actual drinking habits, togetherness of drinking, i.e., proportion of drinking occasions spent together with partner, is reversely connected to pressure from partner to drink less. This article examines these relationships in a comparative perspective, using GENACIS survey data from 16 countries. The results confirmed that on both individual and aggregated level, there is a relationship between drinking and pressure from partner. There is more pressure reported in “dry” cultures and heavy drinking individuals are more often the object than others—in all cultures studied. In only a few countries with rather a different drinking culture, drinking together prevents the pressure, also when controlled for actual consumption. Except for Uganda and UK, men are generally more exposed to pressure to drink less exerted by their female partners and this cannot only be explained by the fact that they actually drink more.