Social Influences Of Eating Behaviour

Human behaviour is a multifaceted phenomenon highly adapted to various social influences. Influences like the presence of other people correlates with the amount of food consumed by an individual (de Castro, 1994). The regulation of meal size as a response to others present is known as social facilitation of eating and is based on the notion that food intake increases with the addition of companions (de Castro, 1994). With reference to Esma and her potential eating behaviour, it is crucial to investigate the social context of her situation and any pre-existing conditions. It is predicted that Esma will eat more than she would unaccompanied and adjust her food intake to match the consumption of the other guests. Factors, such as the number of eating companions and her familiarity to them are crucial in predicting her intake. Further psychological influences may also have effect on consumption, including subjective conditions of appetite, thirst, anxiety and depression (Redd & de Castro, 1992), none of which will be presumed to have considerable abnormal effect for Esma.

Meals eaten with people are typically larger in volume and lengthier in duration, compared to meals eaten in isolation (de Castro, 1994). Multiple studies conducted by John de Castro and collaborators relied on self-reporting methods of volunteers. Findings from these studies found a strong and positive correlation between the number of people present and the amount of food consumed, where as the amount of people present increased so too did the amount of food consumed (de Castro & Brewer, 1991). This social correlation relationship highlighted that the time-extension model, i.e. lengthier durations of social meals, is a key factor for social facilitation of eati...

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...itions. Although, further investigation of the normative model (Herman et al, 2003) and impression management model (Conger et al, 1980) could present different outcomes for Esma, this paper focused predominantly on the time-extension model and disinhibition model. These factors are perhaps most influential in the predictions made for Esma as they acknowledge that social facilitation functions in both directions (Herman et al, 2003) and were applicable given the social context information provided. Research has shaped an extensive range of explanations and influences for the social facilitation of eating, however the key point that can be deduced is that eating, like most human behaviour is heavily impacted by the presence and influence of other people. It is a complex phenomenon, which requires consideration of many dimensions for accurate predictions to be made.