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Chapter 2: Alcohol and Scottish culture

Chapter aims

This chapter addresses the following key questions:

• Is alcohol misuse viewed a s a problem for Scotland as a whole?
• Do people view drinking alcohol as an integral part of Scottish Culture?
• How do people's views of the drinking culture in Scotland compare with their views of drinking in other parts of Europe?
• Do people in Scotland view alcohol as a 'social lubricant'?

Introduction

The Scottish Executive's Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems identifies changing the culture surrounding drinking in Scotland as a key component of its strategy to tackle problem drinking. ¹⁶ The plan suggests that:

There is not a single culture surrounding drinking in Scotland. There are differences between age groups, genders, ethnic and religious groups, urban and rural areas.

A key aim of the 2004 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey was to examine people's views of the role of alcohol in Scottish society and to explore whether or not there are clear differences in attitudes between different groups in society.

Respondents' own drinking behaviour

Although the SSA is primarily a survey about attitudes, the Drinking and Smoking module did include a few questions about respondents' own alcohol consumption. Respondents were asked:

Do you ever drink alcohol nowadays, including drinks you brew or make at home?

And, for those who do drink alcohol at least occasionally:

Thinking about all kinds of drinks, how often have you had an alcoholic drink of any kind during the last 12 months?

These questions were included primarily to facilitate some analysis looking at differences in respondents' attitudes by the frequency with which they consume alcohol. Although we recognise that in terms of health impacts the volume of alcohol consumed is usually more important than frequency of drinking, within the scope of the module it was not deemed possible or appropriate to include more detailed questions about alcohol consumption (e.g. numbers of units consumed per week or on individual occasions).

Overall, 21% of respondents drink on at least 3 or 4 days a week, while 34% drink once or twice a week and 9% never drink. Figure 2.1 shows frequency of drinking among male and female respondents. Men tend to drink more often than women - they are twice as likely as women to drink on at least 3 or 4 days a week, and half as likely only to drink every couple of months or less. This closely reflects findings from the 1998 Scottish Health Survey, which also found that men were twice as likely as women to drink on at least 3 days a week (36% of men compared with 18% of women said they drank on 3 or more days a week). ¹⁷

Figure 2.1 Frequency of drinking alcohol by gender (%)

Base: Male = 687, Female = 950

Younger respondents aged 18-24 were less likely than respondents aged over 40 to drink very frequently (3 or 4 days a week or more), with 53% of 18-24 year-olds saying they usually drink alcohol just once or twice a week. This again reflects findings from the 1998 Scottish Health Survey, which found that older people tended to drink more frequently than younger people - for example, 29% of men aged 65-74 drank on 5 or more days a week, compared with 9% of 16-24 year-old men ¹⁸. The 2004 SSA also found that respondents with degrees and in managerial or professional occupations were more likely than those with lower qualifications and in routine or semi-routine jobs to drink alcohol frequently, as were respondents in the least deprived areas of Scotland compared with respondents in the most deprived areas (as measured by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation).

However, as discussed above, it is worth remembering that these findings do not provide any indication of the volume of alcohol consumed by people in different groups. According to Alcohol Statistics Scotland 2005, young people are more likely than older people to exceed daily benchmarks on their heaviest drinking days and are most likely to exceed recommended weekly limits, while people in social classes IV and V are more likely than those in social class I and II to drink heavily on their heaviest drinking days. ¹⁹ The current survey did not find any clear differences in terms of frequency of drinking between respondents in urban and rural areas.

Is alcohol misuse seen as a problem for Scotland?

SSA respondents were shown a list of legal and illegal drugs and asked to pick the drugs they thought caused the most and least problems for Scotland as a whole. Respondents clearly recognise that alcohol misuse causes problems for Scottish society. Forty-six per cent said alcohol is the drug which causes the most problems for Scotland as a whole - twice as many as said heroin. In contrast, just 5% thought that alcohol was the drug which causes least problems for Scotland, compared with 36% who chose cannabis and 32% who chose tobacco.

Table 2.1 Views on which drug causes most and least problems for Scotland as a whole

This view of alcohol as the drug which causes most problems for Scotland as whole was shared by men and women, respondents in urban and rural areas and by respondents across all age groups - older people were no more likely than younger people to identify alcohol as the drug that causes most problems. There were, however, some differences between respondents in different classes, with respondents in professional and managerial occupations more likely than those in routine and semi-routine occupations to pick alcohol as the drug which causes most problems for Scotland (55% compared with 39%).

The role of drinking in 'Scottish culture'

In addition to comparing the 'social harm' caused by alcohol and other drugs, respondents were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the following statements about the role and nature of drinking in Scottish and European culture:

Drinking is a major part of the Scottish way of life

Adults in other parts of Europe tend to drink alcohol more sensibly than adults in Scotland

It's easier to enjoy a social event if you've had a drink

These statements were included in the self-completion section of the SSA to minimise the risk of respondents giving what they perceived to be 'socially acceptable' answers.

Figure 2.2 shows that around two-thirds (64%) agreed or agreed strongly that drinking is a major part of the 'Scottish way of life', while a similar proportion agreed that other Europeans tend to drink more sensibly than Scottish adults. As with views on the problems caused by alcohol compared with other drugs, these views were shared by men and women, respondents in different age groups and respondents in urban and rural areas. Agreement across all class and educational groups was also high, although those in managerial or professional occupations (70%) and with degree-level qualifications (71%) were somewhat more likely than those in other occupational groupings or with lower educational qualifications to agree that alcohol is a major part of Scottish life.

Figure 2.2 Agreement with statements about alcohol and Scottish/European culture (%)

Base: 1,514

Alcohol is also viewed as a 'social lubricant' by around a third of Scottish adults - 35% agree or agree strongly that 'It's easier to enjoy a social event if you've had a drink' (Figure 2.3). Men were much more likely than women to agree with this statement (47% of men compared with 27% of women). This difference in attitudes between the sexes does not appear to relate to the fact that men drink more often - even among men and women who said they drank with the same frequency, men were more likely to view alcohol as helping them enjoy social events. There were no notable differences in terms of attitudes towards alcohol as a 'social lubricant' by age, occupational grouping, educational qualification, or rurality.

Figure 2.3 'It's easier to enjoy a social event if you've had a drink' - agreement by gender (%)

Base: Male = 624, Female = 890, All = 1,514

Taken together, the findings in this chapter suggest that while there may be different 'drinking cultures' within Scotland in terms of the patterns of drinking, types of alcohol consumed or the contexts in which alcohol is drunk by different groups, there is relatively strong agreement across all groups that drinking is both a problem for Scotland as a whole and a central part of the country's culture. The drinking behaviour of Scottish adults attracts negative comparisons with the 'sensible' drinking of adults in other European countries, and a significant proportion of Scottish adults, particularly men, view alcohol as a 'social lubricant' that helps them enjoy social situations.

Key points from this chapter

• Men tend to drink more often than women.
• Alcohol misuse is perceived as a problem for Scotland - 46% of respondents thought alcohol caused more harm than other drugs to Scotland as a whole.
• At the same time, two-thirds of respondents agree that alcohol is part of a 'Scottish way of life', while a similar proportion agree that other European adults drink more sensibly.
• These views of the role of alcohol are widely shared by men and women, respondents in different age groups and respondents in urban and rural areas.
• Men are much more likely than women to agree that 'it's easier to enjoy a social event if you've had a drink' - findings suggest that alcohol is viewed as a 'social lubricant' by around half of Scottish men.

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