“She got more than me”. Social comparison and the social context of eating

Polivy, Janet; Pliner, Patricia

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2014.08.007

Cited by 40 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…This could be interpreted as a visual avoidance pattern in order to reduce discomfort [10]. The avoidance of natural stimuli might serve as self-value protection function [38]. Sonneville et al [39] found that overweight women who underestimated their body weight showed a less disordered eating pattern and a lower risk for depression, which might be an indicator for a self-serving function.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Do You Look Visual Attention to Human Bodies across the Weight Spectrum in Individuals with Normal Weight or with Obesity

Leehr¹,

Giel²,

Schäffeler³

et al. 2018

Obes Facts

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Objective: We investigated how individuals with normal weight (NW) versus individuals with obesity (OB) visually explore human bodies varying in BMI. Methods: 16 OB (BMI 37.5 ± 7.7 kg/m²) and 35 NW (BMI 21.5 ± 1.6 kg/m²) visually explored 35 natural photographs and 25 avatars depicting male and female bodies ranging from normal weight to obesity. Gaze behaviour was assessed using eye tracking technology. Additionally, participants rated the attractiveness of all body stimuli. Results: A comparison of the displayed gaze behaviour shown by both participant weight classes indicates that regarding visual stimuli of obese natural bodies, all participants (OB + NW) looked at the waist longer, whereas regarding visual stimuli of normal-weight bodies, all participants viewed the head longer. Overall, OB spent less time looking at the bodies than NW. All participants rated normal-weight bodies as more attractive than obese bodies. However, the NW sample rated the depicted obese bodies as even less attractive than the OB sample did. Conclusions: TheBMI of the explored body, but not the observer's BMI, produces differences in the visual exploration of human bodies. The displayed exploration pattern of obese bodies can cautiously be interpreted as a ‘de-individualised' and ‘obesity-focused' perception. This tendency may prove in close relationship with the negative cultural views on obesity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Do You Look Visual Attention to Human Bodies across the Weight Spectrum in Individuals with Normal Weight or with Obesity

Leehr¹,

Giel²,

Schäffeler³

et al. 2018

Obes Facts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus this social comparison of others’ eating to our own is the basis for many of the phenomena that we think of as social influences on eating [23]. The reason we model another’s intake is because we compare ourselves to the other, and want to maintain our status in the comparison.…”

Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s that you’re eating? Social comparison and eating behavior

Polivy

2017

J Eat Disord

Self Cite

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People seem to have a basic drive to assess the correctness of their opinions, abilities, and emotions. Without absolute indicators of these qualities, people rely on a comparison of themselves with others. Social comparison theory can be applied to eating behavior. For example, restrained eaters presented with a standard slice of pizza ate more of a subsequent food if they thought that they had gotten a bigger slice of pizza than others (i.e., had broken their diets), whereas unrestrained eaters ate less. Social influences on eating such as modeling and impression formation also rely on comparison of one’s own eating to others. Comparing one’s food to others’ meals generally influences eating, affect, and satisfaction.

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“…Consequently, the same research group (Ferrer-Garcia, Gutiérrez-Maldonado, & Pla, 2013) conducted a pilot study to address this issue. However, eating with others is not only a question of preferences, because a considerable body of literature has also highlighted the effect that the presence of others has on our consumption decisions, that is, on what and how much we eat (Higgs, 2015;Polivy & Pliner, 2015). Likewise, the presence or absence of other people eating in the VR situations was included as a contextual cue, because human eating is not only a survival behaviour but also a social activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Craving for Food in Virtual Reality Scenarios in Non‐Clinical Sample: Analysis of its Relationship with Body Mass Index and Eating Disorder Symptoms

Ferrer-García

Gutiérrez‐Maldonado

Treasure

et al. 2015

Euro Eating Disorders Rev

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Virtual reality (VR) technology has been successfully used to study the influence of specific and contextual food-related cues on emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses in patients with eating disorders (ED) and healthy controls. Following this research line, the present study assesses the effect on reported food craving of the type of food (low calorie versus high calorie) and the presence or absence of other people (private versus social context) in VR environments. Relationships between craving and body mass index (BMI) and ED symptoms are also explored. Eighty-seven female students were exposed to four VR scenarios presented in random order: a low-calorie kitchen, a high-calorie kitchen, a low-calorie restaurant and a high-calorie restaurant. After 2 minutes of exposure to each virtual scenario, food craving was assessed. Repeated measures analyses of covariance were conducted to assess changes in food craving following exposure to the different VR environments. Time elapsed since the last meal was introduced as a covariate to control for responses produced by food deprivation. Correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were also conducted to assess the relationship between reported food craving and BMI and ED symptoms. Participants experienced higher levels of food craving after exposure to high-calorie foods (in both the kitchen and restaurant environments) than after exposure to low-calorie foods. Being alone in the kitchen or with friends in the restaurant had no effect on reported craving. Overall, neither BMI nor ED symptoms were related with reported food craving; only in the restaurant with low-calorie food was a significant negative correlation found between BMI and food craving. The results suggest that cue exposure in virtual environments is an effective procedure for inducing food craving in healthy controls and may be useful as a research and therapeutic tool in clinical populations.

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“She got more than me”. Social comparison and the social context of eating

Cited by 40 publications

References 56 publications

Where Do You Look Visual Attention to Human Bodies across the Weight Spectrum in Individuals with Normal Weight or with Obesity

Where Do You Look Visual Attention to Human Bodies across the Weight Spectrum in Individuals with Normal Weight or with Obesity

What’s that you’re eating? Social comparison and eating behavior

Craving for Food in Virtual Reality Scenarios in Non‐Clinical Sample: Analysis of its Relationship with Body Mass Index and Eating Disorder Symptoms

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