Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue of this journal attempts to view and analyze drinking behavior from a social perspective. Health policies consistently hold that the exercise of sobriety is urgent because people in many countries drink too much alcohol, which, in turn, negatively affects their health in the long term. In other words, in the health care community, drinking alcohol is regarded only as a health risk, and therefore it is argued that it is necessary to stop drinking. Nevertheless, although the argument that soberness is necessary because of the health hazards of drinking is a logical conclusion, it is difficult to say that it is socially valid. It is well known that drinking a lot of alcohol is harmful to health, but people still drink a lot because the socio-cultural motives recommending alcohol are very strong.

Therefore, simply emphasizing the health risks of drinking will not help an alcohol-free policy succeed easily. However, in the health care field, there is a very passive understanding of social and cultural factors when considering policy. In this Special Issue, I would like to anticipate the creation of a more effective alcohol control policy by revealing the social and cultural characteristics of drinking beyond these academic boundaries.

This Special Issue intends to recruit articles on the following three aspects.

First, we examine the characteristics of drinking culture from a comparative socio-cultural perspective.

Second, this issue characterizes drinking behavior based on major demographic factors such as gender, generation, and occupation and identifies factors that cause excessive drinking. In particular, it seeks to find demographic groups in which heavy drinking is prominent and to understand their drinking behavior and social values and norms related to drinking. In other words, drinking behavior has social norms and values that rationalize it. For example, the belief that drinking is essential for maintaining social relationships or that drinking is comforting when we are stressed are factors that encourage drinking. A drinking prevention campaign can be carried out more effectively by informing people that these worldly beliefs are wrong, rather than by simply warning of the health risks of drinking. In other words, it may be more efficient to establish prevention strategies that focus on drinking motives or values, rather than on the alcoholic effects of alcohol consumption.

Third, the relationship between socioeconomic structure and drinking could be examined. One example is that the effect of sharing the news of a drinking party with friends on social media may be that it encourages others to host drinking parties, creating a competitive atmosphere around drinking.

While the focus will be on empirical articles, articles with an editorial style or those that propose methodological innovations will also be considered.

Prof. Dr. Aeree Sohn
Guest Editor

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• alcohol
• culture
• motives
• attitudes
• alcohol marketing