Prior studies aimed at explaining cognitive–motivational reasons for drinking have focused on either cognitive or motivational factors, but not on both. This study examined the ability of both alcohol-attentional bias and motivational structure to predict alcohol consumption. Participants were university students (N= 87) who completed a battery of tests, including the Personal Concerns Inventory (a measure of adaptive and maladaptivemotivation), an alcohol Stroop test (a measure of alcohol-attentional bias), and an alcohol-use inventory. Regression, moderation, and mediation analyses showed that (a) maladaptive motivation and alcohol-attentional bias were positive predictors of alcohol consumption after participants’ age, gender, and executive cognitive functioning had been controlled, and (b) maladaptive motivation and alcohol-attentional bias independently predicted alcohol consumption. The implications of the results for both theory and practice are discussed.

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