Flirtation, Climate and Alcohol: Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, I analyzed the social behaviour in Europe and made a link to weather and alcohol consumption patterns.

So what is…or should the case be in Nigeria?

Since we experience similar (warm) climatic conditions as the Mediterraneans, it would make sense to assume that we have the same outgoing nature and high social self-esteem. This would seem so, given the many social activities that fill our weekend calendars, particularly in Lagos. But this is not necessarily the case. The results of a survey I conducted on a group of Nigerians in their mid-20s revealed that many of us are actually not as outgoing as we may seem. We generally prefer outings in familiar environments where we are more likely to interact with close or mutual friends.

Another observation is that we do not tend to have an “outdoorsy” culture unlike the Spanish, who are always found walking about the streets and beaches. For instance, during our “outdoor” trips to the beach, some would rather spend most of the time at the pool in the beach house than on the actual beach. (Well, then again, this could also be due to superstitious fears of the ocean). Furthermore, until recently, our typical holiday would be a shopping trip to London or the United States, where each day’s activity usually involves a visit to a new shopping outlet, and not going out to experience the culture, interacting with locals or visiting museums. So we generally seem to lack that curiosity about our environment (which includes fellow human beings).

My survey further revealed that social interaction is most favoured via non-verbal communication using Smartphones (text messages, Blackberry Messenger, WhatsApp, iMessage, etc), as opposed to face-to-face contact. I must admit, I am culprit to this, as I am in constant contact with some friends via non-verbal media, whom I see probably two or three times a year, but live within a 6mile radius. This preference to smart phones is also indicative of the fact that Nigeria has the largest smart phone market in the Africa and one of the largest mobile phone markets in the world. And technological geniuses developing new applications for non-verbal contact every day does not really help matters.

I am sure you will agree now to some degree that despite our very busy social calendars in Nigeria, we are a little anti-social or perhaps just shy; and this is where alcohol comes in.  According to my survey, most people consume alcohol socially and have admitted to doing so to lift their social self-esteem and establish the confidence to flirt.

This relationship between flirtation, climate and alcohol consumption is just my observation, and hasn’t exactly been recorded in literature.  But I thought it was really interesting.  So next time you find yourself in an interactive social scenario, observe and take note of how the interaction between flirtation, climate and alcohol play a role in human behavior.