2006/07/01 by Larry Christensen, Alisa Brooks · 63 citations
Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · #Cognitive psychology #Eating Disorders and Behaviors #Economics #Food preference #Food science #Function (biology) #Mood #Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior #Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet #Preference #Psychology #Social psychology
paper · doi:10.3200/jrlp.140.4.293-306
published in The Journal of Psychology 140(4), 293-306 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2006/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The authors investigated the effect of mood on food selection. Participants (N = 98) indicated the likelihood of general eating and the likelihood of eating specific foods after reading and projecting themselves onto the events and emotions described in a sad and a happy vignette. Both men and women believed they were more likely to consume food following a happy versus a sad event, and men believed they were significantly more likely to eat than did women. However, the type of food men and women believed they would consume interacted with the type of event experienced. Vegetarian snack foods were more likely to be consumed following a happy versus a sad event, with men more likely to eat snack foods. Men did not significantly change in likelihood of consuming sweet foods as their mood changed. However, women believed they were more likely to consume sweet foods following a sad event. The authors discuss the results in terms of a self-medication hypothesis and the effect of carbohydrates on central serotonin and endogenous opioids. Overall, results demonstrated that mood influences belief in the likelihood of food selection.