Focused on fairness: Alcohol intoxication increases the costly rejection of inequitable rewards

This research examined the effect of alcohol intoxication on the propensity to behave inequitably and responses to inequitable divisions of rewards. Intoxicated and sober participants played ten rounds of a modified ultimatum game in two studies. Whereas intoxicated and sober participants were similarly generous in the proposals they made to their partners, intoxicated participants more often rejected unfair offers than did sober participants. These results were consistent whether alcohol intoxication was self-determined (Study 1) or randomly assigned (Study 2). The results provide insight into the cognitive processes underlying standards of equity and responses to inequity, and elucidate how intoxication influences these processes and subsequent behavioral responses.