Model Chrissy Teigen recently got candid about what her husband John Legend is really like after a few drinks. Her only complaint? Legend gets "way too loving" when he's drunk. (But honestly, aww.) "He'll be like, 'Let's go in the closet!'" Teigen said in an interview with Cosmopolitan, explaining that her bed and closet are near each other. "He just gets very, very touchy, and he's like a little baby—it's really sweet."
Teigen's description of this kind of tipsy physical affection is something many of us are familiar with. Let's be honest, Legend's not the only one who gets a little sweet after a few co*cktails. And Suzette Glasner, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at UCLA and author of The Addiction Recovery Skills Workbook, tells SELF there are a few reasons why this alcohol-induced affection can happen.
Part of the reason why alcohol has this effect is chemical.
For starters, research shows that in the short-term, low doses of alcohol can reduce tension, lower inhibitions, and increase relaxation. Because we're feeling less self-conscious, we might act more impulsively when it comes to intimacy—sharing personal things, being more forward, and doing other things that aren't normally as easy to do. All around, we're less cautious. And sometimes that leads us to (literally) lean on our friends a little more than usual.
These effects are often magnified when someone's had a lot to drink. "With larger doses of alcohol, not only can a person lower their inhibitions, but their emotions can also be altered," Glasner explains. This combination of decreased inhibition and increased emotion can create a perfect storm for physical affection.
And if this is happening to you, a lot of what you're experiencing is chemical. "Alcohol has well documented effects on brain chemicals and structures that [help] us control our impulses and suppress or deliberately hold back on certain behaviors," Glasner says.
Beyond simple physiology, there's a psychological reason why you may be extra snuggly after you've been drinking.
Plus, expecting to act more touchy-feely while tipsy can actually cause you to act more touchy-feely while tipsy, David J. Hanson, Ph.D., professor emeritus of sociology of the State University of New York at Potsdam, tells SELF. It's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy: "We have expectations as to what alcohol's going to do to us, and we tend to comply with those expectations," Hanson explains. "When a person thinks alcohol is going to make them more enamored, they're going to act that way—it's psychological."
And Glasner agrees, explaining that our expectations can actually have a pretty big impact on our behaviors. "If a person who is ordinarily shy or reserved [thinks] drinking will loosen them up and give them the courage to act differently toward another person, then that expectation alone can lead to a change in behavior," she says.
Odds are, it's a combination of physiology and psychology: The chemical effects of alcohol plus your expectations equal a whole bunch of physical affection.
If you're a little freaked out about your tendencies toward physical affection when you're drinking, there's only one real solution.
Glasner's only recommendation: Drink less. Since this is an a+b=c scenario (you+alcohol=lots of snuggles), the move is to cut back on your alcohol intake at a given time. (Or you can always lean into it if it's not a real problem and you're just being extra cuddly in a cute way.)
