Studies on alcohol and aggression have tended to use male subjects and to employ negative shock deliveries as the measure of aggression. This study was conducted to investigate sex differences in alcohol's effect on aggression and to examine the impact of providing both positive and negative response options. Male (N=48) and female (N=48) undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of four alcohol expectancy/alcohol receipt groups within a balanced placebo design. Assigned a "teacher" role, subjects chose to deliver various levels of positive reinforcement or punishment to a male "learner" over 40 learning trials. Subjects completed 20 trials prior to, and 20 trials subsequent to, being provoked by insults from the "learner." The alcohol expectancy manipulation proved effective. Sex differences in emotional responses to provocation were found. Only intoxicated men, but both sober and intoxicated women, responded to the provocation with anxiety. All subjects reinforced with greater intensities and longer durations than they punished both before and after being insulted. These findings suggest that intoxication induces emotional liability in men, increasing their sensitivty to provocation. Women reported only a decrease in friendliness after being insulted while intoxicated. The finding that both intoxicated and sober subjects were invested in fulfilling their roles as "teachers" suggests that setting factors constitute highly relevant variables in the prediction of intoxicated aggression. (KS)