by Eric W. Dolan May 8, 2024 in Addiction, Alcohol, Parenting Retrieved from https://www.psypost.org/new-psychology-research-sheds-light-on-the-dark-side-of-wine-mom-culture/#google_vignette
Recent research has illuminated how the “wine mom” phenomenon, prevalent on social media and television, influences mothers’ attitudes towards alcohol. This study found that the portrayal of mothers consuming alcohol as a stress-relief mechanism on platforms like Instagram and Facebook could encourage risky drinking behaviors by shaping social norms around alcohol consumption among mothers. The findings have been published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media.
The “wine mom” phenomenon promotes the idea that alcohol is a necessary coping tool for motherhood’s challenges, often via humorous memes, hashtags like #winemom, or groups like “Mommy Drinks Wine and Swears.” The researchers were concerned that this social media discourse could adversely affect health outcomes, as increased alcohol consumption heightens the risk of developing physical and mental health disorders.
“As a mother, I frequently see memes and discourse on social media about the need to drink alcohol to survive the challenges of motherhood. The messages often uses humor. As a scholar, I was curious about the effects of seeing this type of ‘wine mom’ messaging and I realized there was a lack of research exploring it,” said study author Emily Lorenz, a doctoral candidate and graduate instructor at the University of Missouri.
The study was conducted through an online experiment involving 330 mothers who were recruited through social media and mom-oriented groups. Participants were randomly divided into three groups: the “wine mom” condition (exposed to nine Instagram posts advocating wine mom culture), the “sober mom” condition (viewing nine posts promoting sobriety), and a control group that saw neutral nature-themed motherhood content.
The Instagram posts were sourced using hashtags like #winemom and #sobermom, ensuring an equal mix of text and image-based posts. Each participant then answered questions to gauge their social comparison orientation, previous exposure to alcohol messaging, drinking identity, and current norms around alcohol.
The researchers found that exposure to “wine mom” content on social media significantly shapes injunctive norms — mothers’ perceptions of social expectations and approval regarding drinking. Mothers who had been regularly exposed to wine mom content before the study, and then viewed similar content during the experiment, reported stronger beliefs that their social circle expects and approves of drinking as a part of motherhood.