The Influence of Assortment Size on Self-control in Food Choices

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten Elen ◽  
Maggie Geuens
Keyword(s):  
Food Choices ◽  
Self Control

Out of Reach and Under Control: Distancing as a Self-Control Strategy

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722094981
Author(s):  
Shana Cole ◽  
Janna K. Dominick ◽  
Emily Balcetis
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategy ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Diary Study ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Food Diary ◽  
Unhealthy Eating ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way

In a world where they are inundated with potential temptations, how are successful dieters able to resist the urge to give in to unhealthy foods? Four studies suggest distance is one tool that may enable people to forego temptation. People with strong goals to eat healthy preferred to be farther away from unhealthy foods (Study 1a), which was associated with feeling less tempted by and less likely to give in to them (Study 1b). In addition, successful self-regulators with goals to restrict unhealthy eating perceptually represented the distance to unhealthy foods as greater than the distance to healthy foods (Study 2). Moreover, in a week-long food diary study, distancing from temptations helped people make healthier food choices (Study 3). The studies suggest that successful self-regulators’ motivations to avoid unhealthy foods are reflected in the way they structure and perceive the world. Distancing may allow people space to make healthier choices.

Calorie Labeling Promotes Dietary Self-Control by Shifting the Temporal Dynamics of Health- and Taste-Attribute Integration in Overweight Individuals

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Lark Lim ◽  
Molly T. Penrod ◽  
Oh-Ryeong Ha ◽  
Jared M. Bruce ◽  
Amanda S. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Decision Process ◽  
Food Choice ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
Relative Speed ◽  
Calorie Labeling ◽  
Health Related

Understanding why people make unhealthy food choices and how to promote healthier choices is critical to prevent obesity. Unhealthy food choices may occur when individuals fail to consider health attributes as quickly as taste attributes in their decisions, and this bias may be modifiable by health-related external cues. One hundred seventy-eight participants performed a mouse-tracking food-choice task with and without calorie information. With the addition of calorie information, participants made healthier choices. Without calorie information, the initial integration of health attributes in overweight individuals’ decisions was about 230 ms delayed relative to the taste attributes, but calorie labeling promoted healthier choices by speeding up the integration of health attributes during a food-choice task. Our study suggests that obesogenic choices are related to the relative speed with which taste and health attributes are integrated into the decision process and that this bias is modifiable by external health-related cues.

scholarly journals The dynamics of self-control: within-participant modeling of binary food choices and underlying decision processes as a function of restrained eating

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (7) ◽  
pp. 1777-1788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Georgii ◽  
Michael Schulte-Mecklenbeck ◽  
Anna Richard ◽  
Zoé Van Dyck ◽  
Jens Blechert
Keyword(s):  
Food Choice ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Restrained Eating ◽  
Restrained Eaters ◽  
Process Measures ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Independent Replication ◽  
High Calorie

Abstract Successful self-control during food choice might require inhibition of impulses to avoid indulging in tempting but calorie-dense foods, and this might particularly apply to individuals restraining their food intake. Adopting a novel within-participant modeling approach, we tested 62 females during a mouse-tracking based binary food choice task. Subsequent ratings of foods on palatability, healthiness, and calorie density were modeled as predictors for both decision outcome (choice) and decision process (measures of self-control conflict) while considering the moderating role of restrained eating. Results revealed that individuals higher on restrained eating were less likely to choose more high-calorie foods and showed less self-control conflict when choosing healthier foods. The latter finding is in contrast with the common assumption of self-control as requiring effortful and conscious inhibition of temptation impulses. Interestingly, restrained eaters rated healthy and low-calorie foods as more palatable than individuals with lower restrained eating scores, both in the main experiment and an independent replication study, hinting at an automatic and rather effortless mechanism of self-control (palatability shift) that obviates effortful inhibition of temptation impulses.

scholarly journals Developmental Changes in Food Perception and Preference

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A7-A8
Author(s):  
Monica Serrano-Gonzalez ◽  
Seung-Lark Lim ◽  
Nicolette Sullivan ◽  
Robert Kim ◽  
Megan M Herting ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Preferences ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Differential Rate ◽  
Low Calorie ◽  
Food Perception ◽  
Age Related ◽  
High Calorie

Abstract Food choices are a key determinant of dietary intake, with involved brain regions such as the mesolimbic and prefrontal cortex maturing at a differential rate from childhood to young adulthood. However, developmental changes in healthy and unhealthy food perception and preference remain poorly understood. We aimed to understand this gap by investigating whether perceptions and preferences for food vary as a function of age, and how specific food attributes (i.e., taste and health) impact these age-related changes. We hypothesized that there would be an inverted U-shaped relationship between age and preference for high-calorie foods. As well, we expected that both dietary self-control and the decision weight of the health attribute would increase with age. One hundred thirty-nine participants aged 8–23 years (79 males, 60 females) participated in this study. They completed computerized rating tasks to assess taste, health, and liking (or preference) of high-calorie and low-calorie foods, followed by 100 binary food choices based on each participant’s individual ratings for taste and health. Among the 100 pairs, 75 were deemed challenge trials, where one food had a higher taste rating but a lower health rating than the other food item. Dietary self-control was considered successful when the healthier food cue in the challenge trial was chosen, and self-control success ratio (SCSR) was computed as the proportion of self-control success trials over the total number of choices. Results showed that high-calorie foods were rated as more tasty (r = 0.32, p < 0.001) and less healthy (r = -0.22, p < 0.01) with increasing age. As well, older participants wanted to eat high-calorie foods more than the younger participants (r = 0.29, p = 0.001). Furthermore, older age was associated with an increased decision weight of taste attribute on food preferences (r = 0.26, p = 0.002), suggesting that the taste attribute may contribute to the age-related increases in preference for high-calorie foods. Although participants rated low-calorie foods as less tasty (r = -0.17, p = 0.04) and less healthy (r= -0.31, p < 0.001) with increasing age, there was no significant association between age and preference for low-calorie foods. Participants made faster food choices with increasing age (r= -0.31, p < 0.001), which was driven by failed self-control choices (r = -0.23, p = 0.006). There was no significant association between age and SCSR (p = 0.5). Our results are consistent with other studies that demonstrate age-related increases in consumption of calorie-dense foods in youth, and suggest that age may be more relevant to preference for high-calorie than low-calorie foods. Future studies are merited to investigate the neurobiology underlying these developmental changes in food perceptions and preferences.

Health on Impulse: Promoting Healthy Food Choices under Low Self-Control Conditions

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Salmon ◽  
B. M. Fennis ◽  
D. T. D. de Ridder ◽  
M. A. Adriaanse ◽  
E. de Vet
Keyword(s):  
Food Choices ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Low Self Control

scholarly journals Developmental Changes in Food Perception and Preference

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Serrano-Gonzalez ◽  
Megan M. Herting ◽  
Seung-Lark Lim ◽  
Nicolette J. Sullivan ◽  
Robert Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Choices ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Central Adiposity ◽  
Low Calorie ◽  
Success Ratio ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Food Perceptions ◽  
High Calorie

Food choices are a key determinant of dietary intake, with brain regions, such as the mesolimbic and prefrontal cortex maturing at differential rates into adulthood. More needs to be understood about developmental changes in healthy and unhealthy food perceptions and preference. We investigated how food perceptions and preference vary as a function of age and how food attributes (taste and health) impact age-related changes. One hundred thirty-nine participants (8–23 years, 60 females) completed computerized tasks to rate high-calorie and low-calorie food cues for taste, health, and liking (preference), followed by 100 binary food choices based on each participant’s ratings. Dietary self-control was considered successful when the healthier (vs. tastier) food was chosen. Self-control success ratio was the proportion of success trials over total number of choices. Beta-weights for health (β-health) and taste (β-taste) were calculated as each attribute’s influence on food preference. Adiposity measurements included BMI z-score and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). High-calorie foods were rated more tasty and less healthy with increasing age. Older participants liked high-calorie foods more (vs. younger participants), and β-taste was associated with age. Significant age-by-WHtR interactions were observed for health and taste ratings of high-calorie foods, β-taste, and marginally for preference of high-calorie foods. Stratifying by WHtR (high, low), we found age-related increases in taste and preference ratings of high-calorie foods in the high WHtR group alone. In contrast, age-related decreases in health ratings of high-calorie foods were significant in the low WHtR group alone. Age and β-taste were significantly associated in the high WHtR group and only marginally significant with low WHtR. Although participants rated low-calorie foods as less tasty and less healthy with increasing age, there was no association between age and preference for low-calorie foods. Participants made faster food choices with increasing age regardless of WHtR, with a significant age-by-WHtR interaction on reaction time (RT). There were no age-related effects in self-control success ratio and β-health. These results suggest that individual differences in age and central adiposity play an important role in preference for high-calorie foods, and a higher importance of food tastiness in food choice may contribute to greater preference for high-calorie foods with increasing age.

scholarly journals Eating healthy to impress: How conspicuous consumption, perceived self-control motivation, and descriptive normative influence determine functional food choices

Appetite ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 131 ◽  
pp. 59-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dovile Barauskaite ◽  
Justina Gineikiene ◽  
Bob M. Fennis ◽  
Vilte Auruskeviciene ◽  
Miwa Yamaguchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Food ◽  
Conspicuous Consumption ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Normative Influence ◽  
Control Motivation

scholarly journals Alpha and theta oscillations contribute to attribute regulation in dietary decision making under self-control

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azadeh HajiHosseini ◽  
Cendri A. Hutcherson
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
Influence Of Food ◽  
Goal Relevance ◽  
Regulation Strategies

AbstractHow do different cognitive self-regulation strategies alter attribute value construction (AVC) and evidence accumulation (EA)? We recorded EEG during food choices while participants responded naturally or regulated their choices by focusing on healthy eating or decreasing their desire for all food. Using a drift diffusion model (DDM), we predicted the time course of neural signals associated with AVC and EA. Results suggested that suppression of frontal and occipital alpha power matched model-predicted EA signals: it tracked the goal-relevance of tastiness and healthiness attributes, predicted individual differences in successful down-regulation of tastiness, and conformed to the DDM-predicted time course of EA. We also found an earlier rise in frontal and occipital theta power that represented food tastiness more strongly during regulation, and predicted a weaker influence of food tastiness on behaviour. Our findings suggest that different regulatory strategies may commonly recruit theta-mediated control processes to modulate the attribute influence on EA.

scholarly journals Effect of Impulsivity Traits on Food Choice within a Nudging Intervention

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene C. F. Marques ◽  
Megan Ting ◽  
Daniela Cedillo-Martínez ◽  
Federico J.A. Pérez-Cueto
Keyword(s):  
Linear Models ◽  
Vegetable Consumption ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Self Service ◽  
Rational Consideration ◽  
Low Self Control ◽  
Perceived Variety

Food choices are often driven by impulsive tendencies rather than rational consideration. Some individuals may find it more difficult resisting impulses related to unhealthy food choices, and low self-control and high impulsivity have been suggested to be linked to these behaviors. Recent shifts have been made towards developing strategies that target automatic processes of decision-making and focus on adjusting the environment, referred to as nudging interventions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of impulsivity traits on food choices within a nudging intervention (increased perceived variety). A total of 83 adults participated in an experimental study consisting of a self-service intelligent buffet. Impulsivity traits were measured using the UPPS-P impulsivity scale. General linear models were fitted to evaluate the effect of the five impulsivity traits on the difference of salad consumption (g) between the control and intervention situations. Results showed that impulsivity does not affect food choices in this nudging situation, suggesting that nudging works independently of the participant’s impulsivity score. Results also showed a significantly higher consumption of salad in the nudging versus the control setting (17.6 g, p < 0.05), suggesting that nudging interventions can be effective in significantly increasing total vegetable consumption across the whole impulsivity scale.

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