Closing Time Effect Study

A study was conducted in Australia among club patrons to determine the accuracy of the notion that women get more attractive as the night progresses. The study was conducted on four consecutive Saturday nights and patrons were approached to participate in the study which required them to fill in questionnaires on their perceptions of other people at three instances in the night, at 9 pm, 10.30 pm and at midnight. Participants were required to issue written consent that they would participate and once that was done, they were issued with glow sticks for identification purposes. The study established that about 69% of the patrons had the intention of meeting friends and a smaller percentage, to drink. Also, the single patrons had a higher content of alcohol in their system than those in committed relationships. The study, therefore, confirmed that the levels of attraction towards members of the opposite sex increased as the night progressed. Closing Time Effect is a phenomenon that cites that as the night progresses, individuals become more attracted to members of the opposite sex. This phenomenon is explained using many theories one of them being the reactance theory that states how individuals react when their freedom to choose is restricted.

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Alcohol does affect attraction but only to a certain extent. It was found that according to the beer-goggles effect, certain brain structures react to attractiveness especially after drinking alcohol. According to the early hypothesis, patrons were reacting to the threat of the bar closing before they had chosen a companion to leave with for the night. The study then suggests that continuous exposure to new stimuli would make people more attractive as the night progressed. It was also established that patrons were attracted to people they had previously seen as a result of unconscious recognition. The alcohol expectancy theory states that effects of alcohol depend on the individuals expectations.

I am convinced that the commodity theory best explains the closing time effect. It was formulated by social psychologist Timothy Brock in 1968. This theory deals with the psychological effects of scarcity. According to the theory, when a commodity is scarce, then its value increases hence making it more desirable. Furthermore, this makes it more valuable to its possessor and is transferable from one person to another. In this context, as patrons in a bar find companions for the night and leave with the, they leave fewer people in the bar. This means that the other patrons in the bar have fewer options. Therefore, based on the pressure to also leave with companions, they find the remaining members of the opposite sex more desirable and perceive them as more attractive with the progression of the night. The value, in this case, refers to the benefits the patrons will get from the companions that they will get at the bar. These benefits, therefore, affect their attitudes and perceptions. So as the closing time of the bar approaches, the patrons become more desperate to find a companion. It is, therefore, safe to conclude that this phenomenon is actually true. I would advise you to refrain from choosing a companion later in the night due to the factors discussed above. If you should, therefore, leave with one, it is safer do to so when the night is still young.