Research findings indicate that these unofficial rules, and the self-imposed protocols of drinking rituals, have more influence on both levels of consumption and drinking behaviour than ‘external’ or legal controls.
The literature to date offers no satisfactory explanation for the near-universality of restrictions on female drinking, as all researchers have attempted to explain this in purely cultural terms. We suggest that the prevalence of such restrictions may be due to non-cultural factors such as differences in male and female physiology resulting in more pronounced effects of alcohol on females.