Pursuing a new relationship is nerve-racking enough, and if that relationship is with someone you've never actually met, a meet-up that doesn't involve alcohol seems less than ideal, a new survey by US resource site for addiction, alcohol.org has shown.
The team asked hundreds of millennials about their drinking habits around dating and revealed some insight into the relationship between alcohol and modern love, including the reason why you might have missed out on a second date.
Research from 2017 showed millennials drank less than gen Xers and baby boomers, and a new study from the ABS found that people aged 25-64 (80 per cent on average) and aged 65 years and over (71.6 per cent) were more likely to consume alcohol than those aged 15-24 (67.9 per cent).
Despite this, half of those surveyed by alcohol.org say they've had too much to drink and said or done things they later regretted. And almost 11 per cent of men and 8 per cent of women have blacked out at least once in their pursuit of romance, making for less than ideal company.
One in four millennials have had to drive a date home on at least one occasion because they were too intoxicated to get behind the wheel, and nearly a third of those surveyed have made a sexual decision they wish they hadn't due to having had a few too many.
Close to half of respondents have accepted a drink from a date just because they were buying or offering it, not because they genuinely wanted it — and 37.5 per cent are more likely to go out with someone if the date involves alcohol, whether it be at a restaurant or a bar.
While the average millennial thinks between two and three drinks is the acceptable amount to have on a first date, ordering more drinks can be a sign that your date is going really well.
On the other hand, asking for another round can also signal the opposite. Heavy drinking can also mask the reality you don't have anything in common, with 31.5 per cent of respondents saying they feel the desire to drink more when a date isn't going the way they'd hoped.
Over 50 per cent say they throw back one or two "personality drinks" prior to a date, which gets the conversation flowing as freely as a just-opened bottle of pinot, and a further 60 per cent usually consume the same amount of alcohol throughout, bringing the drink count up to a total of four over the course of an evening.
The same amount of respondents named anxiety and nervousness as the two primary motivations for drinking on a first date, which is not entirely surprising considering the prospect of getting to know someone based on a short bio and five pictures.
Alcohol often feels like the backbone of modern dating, especially because many people think that drinking makes them a more chilled version of themselves — a version similar to the one presented in their dating profile.
