--- title: Study: Drunk Fish Turn Sober Fish Into Sheep description: New research shows that sober fish will follow erratic drunk fish around canonical: https://time.com/106223/drunk-fish-totally-impress-sober-fish-study-finds/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-20T16:34:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:49.958Z article:section: Science og:title: Study Shows Drunk Fish Turn Sober Fish Into Sheep og:description: New research shows that sober fish will follow erratic drunk fish around og:url: https://time.com/106223/drunk-fish-totally-impress-sober-fish-study-finds/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf77a3fe3ce44b01a/69869032e53aba3cac4d2a7c/55898750.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5079 og:image:height: 2857 og:image:alt: zebrafish og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Study Shows Drunk Fish Turn Sober Fish Into Sheep twitter:description: New research shows that sober fish will follow erratic drunk fish around twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf77a3fe3ce44b01a/69869032e53aba3cac4d2a7c/55898750.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Drunk Fish Totally Impress Sober Fish, Study Finds > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler May 20, 2014 4:34 PM UTC  Zebra fish multiply in a water tank at N.I.H. Zebra fish multiply in a water tank at N.I.H.Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler May 20, 2014 4:34 PM UTC A [recent study found](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.12432/abstract) that drunk fish can be quite persuasive—so persuasive, in fact, that they got sober fish to physically follow them around in the water. Research showed that swimming in a high concentration of alcohol made zebrafish faster and bolder. But after the drunken zebrafish were dropped into alcohol-free water, more clearheaded fish were found to follow the inebriated ones around. In other words, drunk fish always end up becoming designated drivers. “It is like \[that the fish’s drunk behavior\] is perceived as a boldness trait, thus imparting a high social status,” lead researcher Maurizio Porfiri, an associate professor at New York University Polytechnic Institute of Engineering, [told _Discover Magazine_.](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/inkfish/2014/05/19/drunk-fish-convince-sober-ones-to-follow-them-around/) So even in schools of fish, straight edge guppies kowtow to the “cool” crowd. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/106223/drunk-fish-totally-impress-sober-fish-study-finds/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/106223/drunk-fish-totally-impress-sober-fish-study-finds/"},"headline":"Drunk Fish Totally Impress Sober Fish, Study Finds","datePublished":"2014-05-20T16:34:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:49.958Z","description":"Researchers found that inebriated zebrafish convince clearheaded fish to follow them around, as their erratic behavior is perceived is a \"boldness trait\"","url":"https://time.com/106223/drunk-fish-totally-impress-sober-fish-study-finds/","keywords":["animals","Newsfeed","Alcohol","study","drinking"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf77a3fe3ce44b01a/69869032e53aba3cac4d2a7c/55898750.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf77a3fe3ce44b01a/69869032e53aba3cac4d2a7c/55898750.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"zebrafish","caption":"55898750","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/106223/drunk-fish-totally-impress-sober-fish-study-finds/","name":"Drunk Fish Totally Impress Sober Fish, Study Finds"}}]}] ```