Citation

Skog OJ. Soc. Netw. 1986; 8(1): 1-32.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1986, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0378-8733(86)80013-2

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Official records of alcohol consumption, as well as other historical sources, tell a story of variations which are both long-term and large-scale. In the first part of this paper the nature of these variations is discussed; also, the trends in alcohol consumption in Norway during the period 1851-1982 are analysed, in both the time domain and the frequency domain (spectral analysis). On the basis of the results, the question is raised whether the observed wave-like variations are suggesting the existence of a cyclical, recurrent process, or if they are the result of a less systematic and persistent mechanism. In the second part of this paper a theoretical argument for the latter hypothesis is outlined, which links the problem to the alleged collective nature of the drinking culture. The argument is based on a model of dynamic processes of behavior modification in social networks, which links macro-level changes to micro-level mechanisms. It is argued that pseudo-cyclical patterns, very similar to those observed for alcohol consumption, can be produced by processes which operate without a persistent direction, and have their roots in these micro-level mechanisms.