The Effects of Stress, Alcohol Outcome Expectancies, Gender, Coping Styles, and Family Alcoholism on Alcohol Consumption Abstract One large component of American popular culture today is alcohol. A common stereotype for the effects of alcohol is that as a drug it acts as a stress antagonist. This theory was introduced by Conger (1956) as the Tension Reduction Hypothesis (TRW). It states that alcohol's sedative action on the central nervous system serves to reduce tension, and because tension reduction is reinforcing, people drin