Higgs Suzanne, Bouguettaya Ayoub, Ruddock Helen
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2022 Apr 26;13:841422. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.841422. eCollection 2022.
When eating with strangers, people tend to eat less than they would when eating alone (social inhibition of eating), whereas they tend to eat more with family and friends (social facilitation of eating). To assess awareness of the social inhibition and facilitation of eating we conducted two online studies (Study 1:N = 481; Study 2:N = 485). In Study 1, participants imagined a dining scenario and indicated whether they would eat the same, more, or less when eating with someone who was more or less familiar to them (friend; family member; acquaintance; stranger) compared with when eating alone. Results from Study 1 indicated that participants imagined eating special meals with friends/family and so, in Study 2, another group of participants made the same predictions as for Study 1, but they did so for special and regular meals. In Study 1, a significant majority of participants said that they would "eat less" with a stranger/acquaintance. A similar proportion of participants said that they would "eat the same" or "eat more" when with a friend/family member and significantly fewer participants said that they would "eat less" with a friend/family member. In Study 2, the majority of participants said that they would "eat less" with a stranger across both special and regular meals. For meals with an acquaintance, the majority of participants reported that they would "eat the same" during regular meals, while for special meals, equal numbers said that they would "eat the same" as would "eat less." The majority of participants indicated that they would "eat more" during a special meal with a friend/family member. However, for regular meals with a friend/family member, a significant majority of participants said that they would "eat the same." Hence, participants acknowledge the social inhibition of intake and the social facilitation of eating at special meals, but they are either unwilling or unable to acknowledge that they would eat more with a friend/family member at a regular meal compared with eating alone. Raising awareness that eating with friends/family is associated with greater intake at regular meals may be helpful for individuals who are trying to manage their intake.
与陌生人一起用餐时，人们往往比独自用餐时吃得少（饮食的社会抑制），而与家人和朋友一起用餐时，人们往往吃得更多（饮食的社会促进）。为了评估对饮食的社会抑制和促进的意识，我们进行了两项在线研究（研究1：N = 481；研究2：N = 485）。在研究1中，参与者想象一个用餐场景，并指出与独自用餐相比，当与他们或多或少熟悉的人（朋友；家庭成员；熟人；陌生人）一起用餐时，他们会吃得一样多、更多还是更少。研究1的结果表明，参与者想象与朋友/家人一起吃特别的饭菜，因此，在研究2中，另一组参与者做出了与研究1相同的预测，但他们是针对特别饭菜和普通饭菜进行预测的。在研究1中，绝大多数参与者表示，与陌生人/熟人一起用餐时他们会“吃得更少”。相似比例的参与者表示，与朋友/家庭成员一起用餐时他们会“吃得一样多”或“吃得更多”，而表示与朋友/家庭成员一起用餐时会“吃得更少”的参与者明显更少。在研究2中，大多数参与者表示，无论是特别饭菜还是普通饭菜，与陌生人一起用餐时他们都会“吃得更少”。对于与熟人一起用餐，大多数参与者报告说，在普通饭菜期间他们会“吃得一样多”，而对于特别饭菜，说会“吃得一样多”和“吃得更少”的人数相等。大多数参与者表示，与朋友/家庭成员一起吃特别饭菜时他们会“吃得更多”。然而，对于与朋友/家庭成员一起吃普通饭菜，绝大多数参与者表示他们会“吃得一样多”。因此，参与者承认在特别饭菜时有饮食的社会抑制和饮食的社会促进，但他们要么不愿意要么无法承认与独自用餐相比，与朋友/家庭成员一起吃普通饭菜时他们会吃得更多。提高对与朋友/家人一起用餐与普通饭菜时摄入量增加相关的认识，可能对试图控制摄入量的人有所帮助。
