Exposure to Cues of Harsh or Safe Environmental Conditions Alters Food Preferences

Abstract

In humans, psychological stress is positively correlated with an increased desire for certain energy-dense food items, indicating that stress may trigger foraging behavior that adapts to perceived current and future resource availability. However, the extent to which such processes influence desire for different kinds of foods remains unclear. Here, we examine the effects of perceived environmental conditions on food preferences across the food spectrum of dairy, meats, vegetables, fruit, grains, and sweets. We first showed images of 30 different food items to participants and recorded their stated desire to eat each kind of food. We then repeated this procedure after exposing participants to cues of either a harsh or a safe environment. As predicted, we found cues of environmental harshness increased the desirability of energydense food items. However, there was also evidence for decreased desirability for energy-dense food items following exposure to cues of a relatively safe environment. Our findings indicate that simple manipulations of perceived environmental conditions may trigger changes in desire for different kinds of food. Our study has relevance for increasing efforts to understand eating behavior in order to promote uptake of healthier diets.

Dealing with Too Little: The Direct Experience of Scarcity does not Affect Snack Intake

“…Apart from the idea that scarcity experiences lead to less cognitive capacity and self‐regulation, it is plausible that unhealthy eating may be a more direct result from a more present‐time focus stemming from the threatening nature of scarcity perceptions. Obtaining caloric resources in times of scarcity may reflect an adaptive motivation to compensate for (future) scarcity of resources (see also Laran & Salerno, ; Swaffield & Roberts, ). Overall, the present research may provide additional support for the notion that food consumption in response to scarcity is not domain restricted but may also be evoked by non‐food resources (Briers & Laporte, ; Koles, Wells, & Tadajewski, ).…”

Psychological Consequences of Inequality for Food Intake

“…In line with this proposition, there is evidence that a lack of money induces desire for food (Laran & Salerno, 2013;Levy & Glimcher, 2012). Indeed, findings from experimental studies indicate that perceptions of environmental harshness increase desire for food, specifically for food that is high in calories (Bratanova, Loughnan, Klein, Claassen, & Wood, 2016;Briers & Laporte, 2013;Laran & Salerno, 2013;Swaffield & Roberts, 2015). High-calorie foods are more beneficial to survival and are perceived as more valuable in terms of energy provision, and as substitutes for monetary resources (Briers, Pandelaere, Dewitte, & Warlop, 2006;Tang, Fellows, & Dagher, 2014).…”

“…High-calorie foods are more beneficial to survival and are perceived as more valuable in terms of energy provision, and as substitutes for monetary resources (Briers, Pandelaere, Dewitte, & Warlop, 2006;Tang, Fellows, & Dagher, 2014). To illustrate, using a within-subjects design, Swaffield and Roberts (2015) examined how reading a scenario about a harsh or safe environment altered the desirability of 30 food items across different categories: grains, dairy, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, and sweets.…”

Food security and obesity: Can passerine foraging behavior inform explanations for human weight gain?

“…This process of fat regulation has also been observed outside the field of behavioral ecology. In humans, words such as shortfall and adversity lead participants to consume more food items of high-energy value (Laran & Salerno 2013) and to express a desire to eat such items despite their absence and despite any effect on general appetite (Swaffield & Roberts 2015). Interestingly, the mere subjective feeling of lower socioeconomic status relative to others is sufficient to increase food intake and preference for high-calorie foods, irrespective of the absence of objective differences in access to financial resources (Cheon & Hong 2017).…”