Does the Shape of your Wine Glass Influence how much you Drink?

The shape of your wine class may play a major role in how much alcohol you consume, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Iowa State and Cornell Universities examined how much wine people poured depending in the wine type and glass design to find that these factors actually played a role in explaining why some might over drink or experience hangovers  the morning after.

For the study, researchers looked at how much wine participants poured into various wine glasses in multiple settings. They found that people tended to pour close to 12 percent more wine in glasses that were wider than the standard size.

Researchers also found that people poured around 12 percent more wine when they held the glass as opposed to positioning it on the table. The type of wine also played a significant role in determining whether or not drinkers would wind up with a hang over the following morning. The study shows that participants were more likely to pour white wine than red wine. However, when it came to the size of the table in which glasses were set, this did not play a role in how much alcohol was consumed overall.

"People have trouble assessing volumes. They tend to focus more on the vertical than the horizontal measures," said Laura Smarandescu, an assistant professor of marketing at Iowa state, according to the university's press release. "That's why people tend to drink less when they drink from a narrow glass, because they think they're drinking more."

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's measure notes that the standard serving of alcohol is roughly rive ounces. However, many researchers believe that since wine is not always poured in the same glass, this can make it easy for people to consume too much wine and in turn, may promote dangerous circumstances.

"If you ask someone how much they drink and they report it in a number of servings, for a self-pour that's just not telling the whole story. One person's two is totally different than another person's two," the lead author, Doug Walker, an assistant professor of marketing at Iowa State explained, via the release. "Participants in the study were asked to pour the same amount at eat setting, but they couldn't tell the difference."

The study authors hope that their findings could push for wine lovers to more accurately watch and control and their own consumption.

More information regarding the study can be found via Substance Use and Misuse.