People who fake smile at work are ‘more likely to drink heavily’, says study

Managing work and family life is always a balancing act, so is it any wonder we'd be dreaming of a glass of wine at the end of a long day?

Now a new study has shown that having to be pleasant to other people while you're at work actually does make you more likely to drink heavily. Specifically, it found that those of us who work with the public are more inclined to have an increased level of alcohol consumption. Researchers studied the drinking habits of 1,592 workers who have customer or public-facing roles, including teachers, nurses and people who work in the food industry. They concluded that forcing yourself to put on a positive demeanour can be so exhausting that it makes you more likely to drink a lot than people who don't have to interact with the public.

"Smiling as part of your job sounds like a really positive thing, but doing it all day can be draining,” said Alicia Grandey, professor of psychology at Penn State, which conducted the study with the University of Buffalo. "In these jobs, there’s also often money tied to showing positive emotions and holding back negative feelings. "Money gives you a motivation to override your natural tendencies, but doing it all day can be wearing."

Previous research did link heavier drinking and service work, but until now the reason for this wasn't known.

"It wasn't just feeling badly that makes them reach for a drink. "Instead, the more they have to control negative emotions at work, the less they are able to control their alcohol intake after work."