Unintentional eating. What determines goal-incongruent chocolate consumption?
Overeating can be automatically triggered by the presence of palatable food. When presented with an opportunity to consume unlimited chocolate under the guise of a consumer study, chocolate consumption in individuals (n=62) with healthy dietary intentions could be predicted from a psychological measure of cognitive inhibition. Individuals who were less able to suppress goal-incongruent responses in an established inhibitory task: (a) ate more chocolate and (b) had a higher body mass index than others suggesting that these individuals were less able to exert dietary control in the presence of palatable but intention-incongruent foods.
Allan
Julia L
JL
School of Psychology, William Guild Building, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2UB, UK. j.allan@abdn.ac.uk
Johnston
Marie
M
Campbell
Neil
N
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002099:Cacao; D002182:Candy; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D033182:Intention; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult