How Portion Control is Affected by Social Judgments
How much will you eat? A typical immediate answer is generally “enough to be full,” but there are other factors influencing whether or not you will overeat. While we all have a vague understanding of portion control, namely that food portions should reflect biological need lest we become unhealthy, there are psychological factors influencing just how much control over our portions we really have. So what other variables may be subconsciously causing you to overeat and how can you effectively manage portions?
One Eating Study Investigating Portion Control
Brian Wansick of Cornell University has lead a number of eating studies investigating the subconscious reasons people overeat and lead less healthy lifestyles. Among these eating studies is a series detailing how other people’s decisions impact your perception of portion control and resultant overeating.
In this eating study, participants consisted of both men and women eating at a buffet. The study’s execution was simple; eating study participants were situated behind differing individuals who were, unbeknownst to the eating study participants, instructed to take a specific portion of food from the buffet. The eating study’s purpose, as you may have guessed, was to see how the behavior of someone in front of a eating study participant may effect that participant in selecting their portions of food. Could someone taking a larger portion influence an eating study participant to overeat themselves, and what was the intensity of such a relationship, should one exist?
The Eating Study Conclusions
First of all, it may be interesting to note that in this study investigating overeating and socially influenced judgments, physical attractiveness was not a factor. The perceived beauty of the individual in line before the eating study participant had no effect on whether or not that participant mirrored their behavior. At least, this was the case in individuals of physics perceived to be healthy (regardless of facial appeal); eating study participants generally selected a portion mirroring those before them in line, presumably because they felt that portion was a socially acceptable amount to take.
Here the eating study indicated that portion control is the sum of biological need, indulgence, and mirroring what society seems find acceptable. However, this results in possible dangers; what if everyone around you is overeating? Is portion control so susceptible to peer pressure that overeating is merely a matter of subconscious priming from our peers? But the eating study becomes even more fascinating.
While general physical attractiveness was not a factor, the one external characteristic that influenced overeating among the participants was the weight of the person before them in line. Wansick observed that if the person before the eating participant in line was overweight, the eating study participant actually took a larger portion that person. Wansick speculates that while one may assume an individual would be less likely to overeat and more likely to control their portions around a reminder to where overeating may lead, individuals may actually believe that because they are more fit they can afford to eat more. This assertion would mean that portion control is largely influenced not only by societal pressure, but also by what an individual feels they can “get away with.” It appears that many people desire to eat as much as possible and will look for reasons to justify overeating.
Possible Critique of the Eating Study
While it may be less disputable whether or not such mirroring of portion control exists within formal or more serious gatherings, it still remains to be seen how individuals will monitor their portions around intimate friends and loved ones. It’s possible people feel less pressure and therefore are less likely to overeat in the comfort of their own home around people they trust. Then again, trust requires some level of personal actualization, so would those particular individuals be less likely to mirror portion control all together? Either way, Wansick’s eating study produces compelling evidence that portion control is less simple than we may have thought.
WORKS CITED
“How External Cues Make Us Overeat.” Nutrition Action Healthletter (2011). Print.