Curve-Shaped Beer Glasses Could Make You Drink More, New Research Says

The shape of drinking glasses could prompt an individual to drink more alcohol, according to a new study.

A new research reveals that a person's drinking behavior can be influenced by his drinking glass. The study conducted by the University of Bristol and Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group of Bristol in United States have found that alcohol served in straight sided glass prompts individuals to drink it more slowly than when it is served in curved glasses, Huffington Post reports.

Drinkers who cannot identify the volume markings of their drinking glass cannot tell how much alcohol they're drinking, according to researchers Dr. Angela Attwood and student David Troy via Tech Times.

"Our research suggests that small changes such as glass shape and volume markings can help individuals make more accurate judgments of the volume they are drinking and hopefully drinkers will use this information to drink at a slower pace," Dr. Attwood said in a written statement.

The researchers enlisted the help of 160 men and women who had no history of drinking problems and separated them into two groups. One group was given beer in curve-shaped glasses with markings at 1/4, 1/2 and ¾ to indicate the volume of its content. The other group was given beer in curve-shaped glasses with no markings.

The team looked at how fast each group drank their beer. They were able to find out that people with marked glasses drank slower in average of about 10.3 minutes in comparison to the group of people with unmarked glasses at 9.1 minutes.

In another experiment, the researchers tested their theory by taking it to a pub setting in the real world. According to Science Times, the team asked three pubs to account for how much alcohol they sold when they used non-curved or straight-sided glasses instead of curved ones. They were able to find out that when straight-sided glasses were used, they had lower alcohol sales indicating lower alcohol consumption.

The second experiment only used data from three pubs and the testing period was too short, so they described their findings as preliminary but still useful. "We now know it is feasible to conduct this type of research in real world situations and this will have implications for future research," Troy said.

However, some experts aren't impressed with the research. "There's no doubt that context matters when it comes to alcohol and drug use," said Dr. Anna Lembke of Stanford University's Addiction Medicine Program in an email to Huffington Post. "But a study showing that social drinkers with marked glasses drank the same amount of alcohol 1.2 minutes slower than drinkers with unmarked glasses is hardly meaningful."

The research was presented by the team at the British Psychological Society's annual conference last May 6 in Liverpool, England.