Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Pentecostalists, and some Baptists and Methodists. In some ambivalent cultures, such as the United States and Ireland, the values of those who believe in abstinence conflict with the values of those who regard moderate drinking as a way of being hospitable and sociable. This accounts for the plethora of laws and regulations that restrict the buying of alcoholic beverages. Some psychologists say that this ambivalence in the culture makes it harder for some people to develop a stable attitude toward drinking. Some cultures have a permissive attitude toward drinking, including those of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Japan, and Israel. The proportion of Jews and Italians who use alcohol is high, but the rates of alcoholism among them are lower than in Irish and Scandinavian groups. Some cultures may be said to look too favorably upon drinking, as do the French. In France the heavy consumption of alcohol has been related to the fact that many people are engaged in viticulture and in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages. Various surveys indicate that subgroups within a society or culture do not all have the same attitudes toward alcoholic beverages or the same drinking patterns. Drinking behavior differs significantly among groups of different age, sex, social class, racial status, ethnic background, occupational status, religious affiliation, and regional location....
