University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom; Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Appetite. 2016 May 1;100:162-71. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.01.028. Epub 2016 Jan 22.
Rising obesity represents a serious, global problem. It is now well established that obesity is associated with poverty and wealth inequality, suggesting that these factors may promote caloric intake. Whereas previous work has examined these links from an epidemiological perspective, the current paper examined them experimentally. In Study 1 we found that people experimentally induced to view themselves as poor (v. wealthy) exhibited increased calorie intake. In Study 2, participants who believed that they were poorer or wealthier than their interaction partners exhibited higher levels of anxiety compared to those in an equal partners condition; this anxiety in turn led to increased calorie consumption for people who had a strong need to belong. The findings provide causal evidence for the poverty-intake and inequality-intake links. Further, we identify social anxiety and a strong need to belong as important social psychological factors linking inequality to increased calorie intake.
肥胖问题日益严重，已成为全球性挑战。肥胖与贫困和贫富差距密切相关，这一事实已得到充分证实，表明这些因素可能会促进热量摄入。虽然之前的研究从流行病学角度探讨了这些联系，但本研究从实验角度进行了检验。在研究 1 中，我们发现，被实验性地诱导认为自己贫穷（相对于富有）的人摄入了更多的卡路里。在研究 2 中，与处于平等伙伴关系的参与者相比，那些认为自己比互动伙伴更贫穷或更富有的参与者表现出更高水平的焦虑；这种焦虑反过来又导致那些强烈需要归属感的人摄入更多的卡路里。这些发现为贫困与摄入、不平等与摄入之间的联系提供了因果证据。此外，我们发现社交焦虑和强烈的归属感是将不平等与卡路里摄入增加联系起来的重要社会心理因素。
