Alcohol use helps boost income: study

[The Straight Story]

People who consume alcohol earn significantly more at their jobs than non-drinkers, according to a US study that highlighted "social capital" gained from drinking.

The study published in the Journal of Labor Research Thursday concluded that drinkers earn 10 to 14 percent more than teetotalers, and that men who drink socially bring home an additional seven percent in pay.

"Social drinking builds social capital," said Edward Stringham, an economics professor at San Jose State University and co-author of the study with fellow researcher Bethany Peters.

"Social drinkers are out networking, building relationships, and adding contacts to their BlackBerries that result in bigger paychecks."

...

"Drinkers typically tend to be more social than abstainers."

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/14/060914140645.wl9uakm4.html

[Freedomofspeech]

1. If that were the case...

My husband and I would be bazillionars by now.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

2. I'm sorry, but...

I saw this survey on the news last night, and I thought it was one of the stupidest things I'd ever heard.

This is from the article:

"The authors acknowledged their study, funded by the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, contradicted research released in 2000 by the Harvard School of Public Health.

"We created our hypothesis through casual observation and examination of scholarly accounts," the authors said.

How scientific of them. :eyes:

[shadowknows69]

3. There is a twisted logic to this

and that is sad commentary on our society.

[MADem]

11. Well, they looked at George and Laura, and extrapolated... NT

[DaveJ]

16. ...hypothesis through casual observation...

Actually I do not think there is anything wrong or unscientific about that. A hypothesis is just a statement that is later proven true or false in the body of the study. They are not saying they pulled the 'results' out of thin air.

[Radical Activist]

4. Sad, but it doesn't surprise me.

People who go out drinking with others make more personal connections.

[shanti]

18. but that's not what the op said

they said people who DRINK, not SOCIAL drinkers....very very flawed hypothesis.

[TheFriedPiper]

I guess Budweiser doesn't count as alcohol anymore

Or else all those beer cans littering the trailer parks must have been left there by rich businessmen passing through.

[RumpusCat]

5. Correlation =\= Causation

Could it be that the sort of driven person who earns large paychecks
a) suffers from more stress that is relaxed by drinking
b) can afford the time and money for social drinking
c) both of the above?

If only it were true! :toast:

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. I guess the obvious is too subtle for the researchers.

Every boss I ever had drank like a fish.

When I became a boss, I knew why.

[KittyWampus]

6. how about immoral coporate millionaires who need to drink

in order to live with themselves and their sociopathic behavior pushes the average income up for all drinkers?

[MADem]

12. Mel Gibson screwed up the curve, I guess.... NT

[Fierce]

7. Correlation is not causation.

Is the income from the alcohol? No, it's from going out with people. Does it control for people who went "out drinking" but had Cokes instead?

[Psephos]

10. You nailed it perfectly. n/t

[maxsolomon]

8. plus healthier!

everything in moderation.

[Coyote_Bandit]

9. Drinking

is irrelevant. It is the network of contacts that result from social drinking. Obviously, those who drink alone do not share the same benefits.

Had the same study been conducted in the Bible Belt regarding church participation and attendance instead of social drinking the conclusions might well have been the same. In the heart of the Bible Belt the church is, after all, a social institution.

So extroverts who socialize earn more money than introverts who tend to avoid social interaction.

Who'd a thunk it?

[treestar]

14. Does the ability to do the best job count for everything?

Or is it only who you know?

No wonder there is so much incompetence in the US.

It wouldn't take much to look for the most able person for any given job.

[hughee99]

19. Perhaps social skill are ARE important...

Those with better social skills may be better able to do the job. Certainly to someone in a management position, where they have to deal with many subordinates, their ability to personally connect or at least comfortably work with those of varying personalities is a benefit. I've had both managers with very good and very bad social skills. All were capable of handling the technical requirements of their job, but the ones with good social skills were far better at getting things done.

[treestar]

23. But then whoever chooses to go home to their family at night

automatically has lesser social skill?

One with good "social skill" might never go out to bars, while one with poor "social skill" might - in fact the one with poor social skill is more likely to need a drink to socialize.

Although what "social skill" is I don't know - just who you like and who you don't like? In which case, whoever is out is not necessarily going to be the same as those you like. Someone you might like better may not go out as often.

No wonder there are so many incompetent people in jobs. Those most likely to waste work time socializing are in the jobs, too.

A company that wants to succeed might consider putting the output of the product first, over popularity contests. Just a thought.

[hughee99]

25. I think the studies "conclusions" are way off, IMHO...

As others on this thread have noted, it's not about the alcohol, it's about the socializing. I agree that just because one person socializes more than another doesn't mean their social skills are necessarily better. It can provide opportunities that those who do not socialize may miss. The OP does seem to be talking about people who socialize (specifically drink) while they're not working, so I don't know what this has to do with people socializing on work time. I can say that some of the "social butterflies" where I work are the people who don't go out after work. I don't see how someone who goes out after work for a few drinks is less qualified or less productive than someone who goes home to their family each night.

For some jobs, there is clearly a "best qualified" person, for many, it's not so clear. In many cases, especially in this economy, there will be many applicants who are more than qualified to do the job. I work in a field with a lot of people not necessarily known for their good social skills (high tech). From my experience, those with better social skills have fewer conflicts at work, are better able to convey their ideas to others, and as a result, tend to be more successful then those with poor social skills (of course, that does depend on the person's specific job). I would say that social skills, like any other skills, improve with practice, and whether one gets that practice at a bar or elsewhere, it can only help them.

[treestar]

29. I think you are right in what you say

Fewer conflicts at work would be the ideal, though sometimes, a conflict may indicate a person wanting to get the job done versus a person dragging it down on office-politics sort of grounds. The way to learn social skill if you don't have it would be another issue. Bars would be like just jumping in, good for some people, others might want to take classes (there are classes on everything these days). Or just read - there are books on all this stuff. I like to read books about "Dealing with Difficult People" in the workplace - some of those have really had good ideas on that.

[Initech]

15. I'll drink to that!

:beer:

[meldroc]

17. This is the effects of socialization that comes with moderate drinking.

Of course, your typical alcoholic who slams a fifth of Jack Daniels isn't going to see these benefits - chances are he's having trouble holding a decent job.

These benefits go to the moderate drinker, who has control over what and how much he drinks, and has maybe a beer or two with coworkers during lunch or after work.

[izzybeans]

20. Strike that, reverse it.

The operative variable is "network" anyway. Drinking and income is like storks and babies. Just as the seasons drive migration and a littly touchy feely, so do networks drive social capital flows. Guess who is likely to get the promotion. Come on. Guess. The person out hobknobin' and buddy-buddying. They are much more likely to befriend their superiors and much more likely to befriend a person with an inside track to a better job.

"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man or woman miss out on the nightlife." Mark Sandman.

[Dora]

21. Speaking as someone who's married to a non-drinker, it's true.

The number of invites that our friends "forgot" to include us in on is appalling. Both my husband I love to party, but he doesn't drink, and I don't drink much. Cocktailers, however, are only interested in tippling with tipplers.

Drinkers exclude non-drinkers and network with each other. It's similar to the smokers' effect, with the exception that drinking is a socially sanctioned (encouraged) vice.

[KamaAina]

22. Hallelujah! I'm rich!

Gates? Buffett? Trump? Bah! Positively middle-class by comparison!

"We're in the money, we're in the money,
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!" :beer:

[EFerrari]

27. LOL!

:rofl:

[Nye Bevan]

24. .

:toast:
:D

[catnhatnh]

26. I've had enough of Bush for a while....

...think I'll "socialize" like a mo-fo tonight.....

[longship]

28. From a social drinker.

I am a social drinker; I have been for years. I am also a moderate drinker who knows when to say, "No thank you." Many of my compatriots are the same; only a couple of them are not.

Some of my most promising and lucrative deals have always been made over a cocktail, a beer, or a glass of wine. If one thinks a little about this, one should not be surprised. I know that I'm not.