We’ve all either experienced it or witnessed it, the ability of alcohol to “loosen people up” and make them more sociable and outgoing.

Although we’ve always known that alcohol is a social lubricant, Swiss researchers are among the first to actually prove this hypothesis in a study.

Researchers from University Hospital in Basel conducted the test on 60 healthy people, both men and women by giving them alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer.

They then did a series of tests including a sexual arousal test, empathy test and recognition tests.

The lead researcher, Professor Matthias Liechti explained that the desire to be with others, in a happy, talkative environment was higher in the group which drank the alcoholic beer.

Researchers also found that women showed the greatest change in behavior and those with higher initial inhibitions showed the greatest tendency to loosen up after a drink.

Read more at: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-37383682