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Men bond over a pint because booze lowers their inhibitions making their smiles more 'contagious', according to new research.

Alcohol increases mens' sensitivity to 'rewarding' behaviour such as smiling but women are relatively unaffected.

The study warns that this positive reaction could make groups of men vulnerable to 'problem drinking'.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh say men smile more than women when drinking. In a study they found smiles were contagious in groups of menH. owever when women were in the group the smiles did not spread as much. This was an effect they say is down to 'social bravery' in men (stock image shown)

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh looked at 720 social drinkers aged 21 to 28 and split them into groups of three.

Each group was then randomly assigned to receive a particular drink: an alcoholic beverage (vodka cranberry), a non-alcoholic beverage, or a non-alcoholic 'placebo' beverage that was described as alcoholic.

The researchers smeared the glass of the fake alcoholic drink with vodka and floated a few drops of vodka on top of the drink to make it more believable.

The participants in each group were casually introduced and positioned around a table.

The beverages were doled out in equal parts over time, and participants were told to drink them at an even rate. Otherwise, the participants weren't given any specific instruction and were allowed to interact freely.

Based on video recordings, the researchers used sophisticated analyses to model smiling behavior in the groups, following the spread of smiles from one individual in a group to the next.

For all-male groups drinking alcohol, smiling became a lot more contagious. When one man smiled, it was more likely that his smile would be 'caught' by other members of the group.

But it did not have a significant effect on emotional contagion for groups that contained any women.

The findings suggest that alcohol is especially likely to induce a sort of 'social bravery' among men, disrupting processes that would normally prevent them from responding to another person's smile.

The study, published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, found that women did not have the same reaction.

Researchers believe that booze induces a form of 'social bravery' among men, disrupting processes that would normally prevent them from responding to another person's smile.

Among groups who received alcoholic beverages, a smile was also more likely to be 'caught' if those on the receiving end of the smile were heavier drinkers, regardless of gender.

Smiles that were likely to catch on were associated with increased positive mood and social bonding, as well as decreased negative mood. Thus, smile infection could represent an important indicator of alcohol-related reinforcement and a mechanism supporting drinking.

According to the researchers the findings show that social alcohol consumption is more rewarding for men than women. Researchers believe that booze induces a form of 'social bravery' among men, disrupting processes that would normally prevent them from responding to another person's smile (stock image shown)

Lead author Catharine Fairbairn, a Phd researcher at the University of Pittsburgh said: 'This experimental alcohol study, which included a social context, finds the clearest evidence yet of greater alcohol reinforcement for men than women

'Many men report that the majority of their social support and social bonding time occurs within the context of alcohol consumption.

'We wanted to explore the possibility that social alcohol consumption was more rewarding to men than to women - the idea that alcohol might actually "lubricate" social interaction to a greater extent among men.'

She added: 'Historically, neither the scientific community nor the general public has been terribly concerned about drinking that occurs in social settings.

'According to popular opinion, a "social drinker" is necessarily a non-problem drinker, despite the fact that the majority of alcohol consumption for both light drinkers and problem drinkers occurs in a social context.

'Not only that, the need to "belong" and create social bonds with others is a fundamental human motive.

'Therefore, social motives may be highly relevant to the understanding of how alcohol problems develop.'