Recent research has illuminated how the “wine mom” phenomenon, prevalent on social media and television, influences mothers’ attitudes towards alcohol. This study found that the portrayal of mothers consuming alcohol as a stress-relief mechanism on platforms like Instagram and Facebook could encourage risky drinking behaviors by shaping social norms around alcohol consumption among mothers. The findings have been published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media.
The “wine mom” phenomenon promotes the idea that alcohol is a necessary coping tool for motherhood’s challenges, often via humorous memes, hashtags like #winemom, or groups like “Mommy Drinks Wine and Swears.” The researchers were concerned that this social media discourse could adversely affect health outcomes, as increased alcohol consumption heightens the risk of developing physical and mental health disorders.
“As a mother, I frequently see memes and discourse on social media about the need to drink alcohol to survive the challenges of motherhood. The messages often uses humor. As a scholar, I was curious about the effects of seeing this type of ‘wine mom’ messaging and I realized there was a lack of research exploring it,” said study author Emily Lorenz, a doctoral candidate and graduate instructor at the University of Missouri.
The study was conducted through an online experiment involving 330 mothers who were recruited through social media and mom-oriented groups. Participants were randomly divided into three groups: the “wine mom” condition (exposed to nine Instagram posts advocating wine mom culture), the “sober mom” condition (viewing nine posts promoting sobriety), and a control group that saw neutral nature-themed motherhood content.
The Instagram posts were sourced using hashtags like #winemom and #sobermom, ensuring an equal mix of text and image-based posts. Each participant then answered questions to gauge their social comparison orientation, previous exposure to alcohol messaging, drinking identity, and current norms around alcohol.
The researchers found that exposure to “wine mom” content on social media significantly shapes injunctive norms — mothers’ perceptions of social expectations and approval regarding drinking. Mothers who had been regularly exposed to wine mom content before the study, and then viewed similar content during the experiment, reported stronger beliefs that their social circle expects and approves of drinking as a part of motherhood.
Interestingly, the researchers also found that previous exposure to wine mom culture through television influenced mothers’ descriptive norms, or their perceptions of how common drinking is among other mothers. Those who had limited previous exposure to wine mom messaging on television and were exposed to it during the experiment believed that excessive drinking was less common among mothers. This suggests that without prior normalization from television, the experimental exposure alone was insufficient to convince mothers that heavy drinking is a widespread norm.
On the other hand, those frequently exposed to wine mom content on television believed drinking to be more prevalent, demonstrating how media exposure can shape perceptions of normativity.
“I think it is important especially for mothers to realize exposure to ‘wine moms’ on television and social media can shape mothers’ beliefs about alcohol and promote risky drinking behavior. Curating a social media environment that promotes alcohol use can influence mothers’ perceived expectations to consume alcohol,” Lorenz told PsyPost.
“I think this is also an important takeaway more broadly for health practitioners and support systems to realize as alcohol use is on the rise for women, including mothers. While bonding through alcohol can bring community to mothers, and allow them to resist traditional expectations of motherhood, this can have negative influences when it promotes risky drinking behavior, such as heavy drinking.”
Social comparison orientation — a tendency to compare oneself to others — also played a role in shaping normative beliefs about alcohol. Mothers who often engage in social comparisons perceived drinking as more common among other mothers, regardless of the experimental condition they were in.
This effect was particularly pronounced in the control group, which suggests that individuals with high social comparison tendencies might have a predisposition to assume behaviors (like drinking) are more common than they actually are, regardless of the specific media content they are exposed to.
“One surprising finding from the research was that mothers who make more social comparisons are also more likely to think alcohol use is more common among mothers,” Lorenz said. “This may indicate the powerful influence of wine mom discourse, particularly for mothers who compare themselves to other mothers.”
Contrary to expectations, drinking identity — how much mothers view themselves as “drinkers” — did not significantly influence either injunctive or descriptive norms. This outcome suggests that drinking may not be a central aspect of identity for many mothers, overshadowed perhaps by other facets of their identity related to motherhood. It indicates that even if a mother drinks, this behavior might not be a defining characteristic of her identity, and thus, less influential in shaping her normative beliefs about alcohol consumption.
“Social media algorithms curate media experiences in personalized ways, so women may or may not be exposed to wine mom content in their social media channels,” Lorenz noted. “However, those who do seek out or see this type of content should be aware that it can influence perceived expectations to consume alcohol.”
Regarding the long-term goals for this line of research, Lorenz explained that she aims “to advance positive health outcomes and draw attention to support needs for mothers, beyond alcohol as a solution. I hope to further explore the role of stress as related to wine mom messaging and alcohol use.”
The study, “Wine Mom Culture: Investigating Social Media Influence on Mothers’ Alcohol Norms,” was authored by Emily Lorenz and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz.
