A study out of Kentucky shows deeply religious people are much more likely to become violent after consuming alcoholic beverages than their less religious counterparts.

Researchers in Kentucky have found a correlation between religion and alcohol: Evidence suggests that the stronger the person’s religious views, the more hostile and aggressive they are when drinking.

The correlation was discovered by Professor Peter Giancola of the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences. About the study, Professor Giancola said:

“Oversimplifying – in many cases the more religious someone is, the more aggressive they will become after drinking alcohol.”

For the purposes of the study, a religious person was defined as someone who “finds meaning in the sacred,”regardless of which particular religious doctrine they may follow.

Researchers made their findings while trying to create a profile of risk factors to predict alcohol-related violence.

520 people aged between 21 and 35 years old from the central Kentucky region were examined. Participants in the study were randomly given an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink, after being quizzed on the degree of their spiritual beliefs.

The following is an excerpt from the Abstract of the journal article reporting the study’s findings, Alcohol Reverses Religion’s Prosocial Influence on Aggression, published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion:

This investigation included a community sample of 251 men and 269 women randomly assigned to either an acute alcohol intoxication condition or a placebo condition. Participants completed a series of questions drawn from standardized instruments of religiosity and spirituality prior to competing on an aggression laboratory paradigm in which electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed a significant beverage-by-religiosity interaction. Religiosity predicted lower levels of aggression for participants in the placebo group and higher levels of aggression for intoxicated participants. Results indicated that high religiosity coupled with alcohol intoxication may be a risk factor for aggression. This novel finding may help to clarify previous discrepancies in studies of religiosity and aggression.

Interesting to note, when sober, the deeply religious participants were found to be less hostile than those without strong religious beliefs.

Experts claim further research is needed to verify and explain the findings.