Cheers! Drinking beer makes you happier, friendlier, less inhibited and quite possibly sexier, according to Swiss researchers. In other words, beer acts as a social lubricant. (Yes, someone was paid to figure this out.)

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy," quipped Benjamin Franklin. If you want to raise a cold one to that, you might want to take a road trip to one of these 15 cities that are ideal for beer lovers.

And that's not all! It also makes you a more empathetic person. Just one glass or bottle of beer helps you to recognize happy faces more quickly and enhances your concern for positive emotional situations.

The study: Led by Matthias Liechti, head of psychopharmacology research at University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, the team recruited 60 volunteers--30 men and 30 women.

Half were randomly assigned to drink enough beer to raise their blood alcohol level to about 0.4 grams per liter. The specific amount of beer consumed varied with each person as it was determined based on body size. The remaining 30 volunteers were given a nonalcoholic brew.

Both before and after the beer was consumed, both groups performed various tasks and tests for facial recognition, empathy and sexual arousal.

Later, both groups switched what they drank and repeated the tests.

The results:

• After a drink or two, people were far more eager to socialize, especially woman and those who were more introverted and shy.

• Drinking beer made it easier for some men and women--but especially women--to view sexually explicit images, although the beer didn't seem to make them more sexually aroused.

The study findings were published in the journal Psychopharmacology.

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