Year: 1999
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Three studies explored social influences on eating. Prior to reporting these studies, the existing literature was reviewed. This literature appears inconsistent, with each group of studies (social facilitation studies, impression management studies, and modeling studies) suggesting that the presence of others has different effects on intake. We attempted to reconcile these inconsistencies and proposed that all three literatures could be best understood in terms of people's attempts to detect and use norms to govern behavior. The three studies presented here were aimed at adding some cohesion to the existing literature and at demonstrating the value of the normative interpretation of eating. In Study One, participants ate alone, in the presence of a non-eating observer, or in the presence of a co-acting companion. Participants ate significantly fewer cookies in the Observed condition than in the Alone condition. In the Co-action condition, participants tended to match the intake of their companions. In Study Two, participants ate either alone or while observed by the experimenter. Furthermore, subjects were led to believe that prior participants had either eaten a lot (Augmentation Norm condition) or a little (Inhibition Norm condition); subjects in a control condition (No Norm condition) were not informed about prior intake. Results showed that while participants adhered to the norms when they were alone, the presence of the observer suppressed this effect, with subjects eating minimally across norm conditions. In Study Three, three experimental groups were all exposed to an Augmentation Norm; one ate alone, one ate in front of a mirror (intended to increase self-awareness) and one was observed by the experimenter as they ate. A control group of participants ate alone and was not informed about prior intake. While participants adhered to the Augmentation norm when they were alone and in front of the mirror, they again ate minimally when they were observed. The results from all three studies were interpreted in the context of two norms--a norm of minimal eating and a matching norm that prescribes that people model the intake of their companions. The origins of these norms were discussed, as were the limitations of the studies and directions for future research.
Author: Deborah A. Roth
Language: English
Subfield: Nutrition and Dietetics
Field: Nursing
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2586681883