Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK; UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, UK.
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK; UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, UK.
Appetite. 2015 Feb;85:165-70. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.11.019. Epub 2014 Nov 20.
There is consistent evidence that the amount of food we consume can be influenced by the eating behaviour of other people. Some previous experimental studies reported that consumers are unaware of this influence on their behaviour. The present research tested whether people may be more aware of social influence on their eating than previously assumed. In two studies, participants (total n = 160) were exposed to information about the amount of snack food other people had been eating shortly before being served the same snack food and eating as much as they liked. After this, participants responded to questions regarding whether they thought their food intake had been socially influenced, and reported the reasons why they believed they had or had not been influenced. Of the 160 participants, 34% reported that they had been influenced, 10% were unsure and 56% reported they had not been influenced. Crucially, participants' reports of social influence appeared to be accurate; the food intake of participants reporting social influence was significantly affected by the amount of food other people had been eating, whereas the food intake of participants denying social influence was unaffected. Individuals may be more aware of the effect that social influence has on their eating behaviour than previously assumed. Further work is needed to identify the factors which determine whether people are susceptible to social influence on eating behaviour.
有确凿的证据表明，我们所摄入的食物量可能会受到他人饮食习惯的影响。一些先前的实验研究报告称，消费者并未意识到这种行为上的影响。本研究旨在检验人们是否比之前认为的更能意识到社会因素对其饮食的影响。在两项研究中，参与者（总计 160 人）接触到有关其他人在被提供相同零食之前吃了多少零食的信息，并可以随意食用。在此之后，参与者回答了一些关于他们是否认为自己的食物摄入量受到了社会影响的问题，并说明了他们认为自己受到或未受到影响的原因。在 160 名参与者中，34%的人报告说他们受到了影响，10%的人不确定，56%的人报告说他们没有受到影响。至关重要的是，参与者对社会影响的报告似乎是准确的；报告受到社会影响的参与者的食物摄入量明显受到其他人所吃食物数量的影响，而否认受到社会影响的参与者的食物摄入量则不受影响。与之前的假设相比，个人可能更能意识到社会影响对其饮食行为的影响。需要进一步的工作来确定哪些因素决定了人们是否容易受到社会因素对饮食行为的影响。
