Conformity In Human Eating Behaviour

Human eating behaviour is significantly associated with the social context, and can deliver as a communicative function. Food intake of what and how much you eat can also exchange information more than your culinary choices; it conveys an image of oneself to other people (Roth, Herman, Polivy, and Pliner, 2001). Using the example of Esma- a female who is of normal body weight, attending a birthday dinner for her boyfriend’s mate to a restaurant she has never been too, and with twelve people present at the social event- the first half of this essay seeks to predict how much food Esma will consume than the other people at the dinner party compared to when eating alone. The second half of this essay will discuss how much Esma will consume if she has very low levels of trait empathy. The total number of people present, the amount eaten by other dining companions, and the environmental setting can all indirectly and directly influence the amount of food Esma will eat.

Situational and behavioral conformity are the two factors, which will influence Esma to eat the same amount of food as the other guests at the dinner party. Behavioral conformity is the need to gain social approval by others regardless of their underlying beliefs or preferences and facilitates social interaction by recognising the comparison in behavioral attitudes (Bernheim, 1994). Impression management theory gives a possible explanation for behavioral conformity. Individual’s will chose to match their intake to others to follow group norms. Salvy, Jarrin, Paluch, Ifran and Pliner (2006) argued that when eating with strangers, their concentration is shared between self and others and it includes both controlling what is being consumed and what others are consuming. Th...

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...not feel the need to gain admiration or social approval through behavioral conformity.

In conclusion, different social conditions can significantly influence what and how much an individual consumes. Factors such as distraction, presentation of food and eating with unfamiliar others can stimulate behavioral conformity compared to when eating alone. Eating operates as a communicative function where individuals adjust their level of intake to appear likable and convey a positive presentation of themselves. In contrast, very low levels of trait empathy in Esma’s situation, she is more likely to consume greater amounts of food because she wouldn’t feel the need to empathies with what other people are experiencing or thinking about her. Thus, less importance would be placed on social pressures to gain acceptance or form a relationship through interacting with others.