Social Context

The consumption of a meal in a social context as with, Esma at the birthday dinner, is shaped by a number of factors including the physical location and presentation of the meal (Stroebele & De Castro, 2004) and the perceived intake norm of the group . Amongst the most significant influences on her consumption levels are the impact of social facilitation in increasing food intake and the desire for “social ingratiation” (Robinson, Tobias, Shaw, Freeman, & Higgs, 2011). In light of these factors this essay will highlight the influence of a high intake norm and the effect of modelling for social acceptance on Esma’s intake, in a social eating context with the majority of her companions being unfamiliar to her.

In exploring the role of the social context on Esma’s consumption it is also essential to understand the significance of environmental factors in influencing Esma’s appetite and choices. In addition to the influence of the “ambience”, including features such as lighting, temperature, sounds, of restaurants in promoting food intake (Stroebele & De Castro, 2004); it is also necessary to consider the role of the varied banquet meal in creating a high intake norm and slowing down satiation. Hetherington, Rolls, and Burley (1989) found that sensory-specific satiety following the consumption of four varied dishes in a meal resulted in an elevated energy intake in comparison to the consumption of a uniform meal. Normally the process of sensory-specific satiety would limit the intake of foods as the palatability of a consumed food decreases over the course of a meal. However the introduction of varied courses, food intake increases as it takes longer to become full. Furthermore, distractions such as those provided by conversatio...

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...social norms. This notion is supported by the findings of Robinson et al. (2011) where those low in empathy were less likely to match the chocolate m&m intake of the confederate. Thus while social matching may not influence Esma’s intake, it is important to consider Esma’s low empathy in light of other social and contextual factors. (Robinson, Benwell, & Higgs, 2013) found that while empathy did not moderate adherence to a perceived social norm in a remote confederate paradigm, the creation of both a high and low intake norm had a significant impact on cookie intake with participants’ intake reflecting the social norm. Esma’s intake would still be more than she would eat alone in a similar situation as a result of the high intake norm created by the context of the dinner however she is less likely to eat more than she would be inclined to in the specific context.