To investigate whether men and women think alike about drinking and the effects of alcohol, the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire was administered to 440 college students, 120 medical patients, and 305 alcoholics in residential treatment. Previous and current drinking patterns and background information were also examined. Subjects were grouped by sex into one of four drinking patterns ranging from nondrinkers to alcoholics. Analysis of the results showed that the women viewed alcohol as producing more global experiential changes, social and physical pleasure, and arousal and tension reduction than did men. In contrast, men expected significantly more improvements in their ability to be socially assertive when drinking. The results also indicated a significant gender by drinking pattern interaction, with females' alcohol reinforcement expectancies decreasing as drinking experience increased. Among men, non-drinkers and alcoholics maintained more limited reinforcement expectations, and light to moderate and heavy drinkers maintained the strongest reinforcement expectancies. The findings suggest that men and women view alcohol from different perspectives in the early stage of alcohol use. (JAC)