Relations of drinking motives and alcohol consumption in Korean male office workers.

The relation between alcohol consumption and drinking motives was investigated among male office workers, 270 adult Korean men (M age = 38.6 yr., SD = 9.2) who were current drinkers. Heavy alcohol drinking was reported by 30.7% of the participants. Social motives had the highest mean score on the drinking motive questionnaire. Participants ages 20 to 29 yr. were more likely to drink for social and enhancement motives than those ages 40 to 49 yr. Participants without spouses reported greater importance of social motives and enhancement motives than those with spouses. Social motives, coping motives, and age-predicted alcohol consumption were regressed on the Quantity-Frequency index. This index score explained 30.5% of the variance in social motives, coping motives, and age. These findings suggest that there is high prevalence of heavy alcohol consumption among Korean office workers, who were likely to drink alcohol to increase sociability and reduce tension.