Background: Distraction and emotions have been proven to affect eating behavior. Design: In this online study, 120 participants were randomly assigned to one of three distraction conditions whilst...Show moreBackground: Distraction and emotions have been proven to affect eating behavior. Design: In this online study, 120 participants were randomly assigned to one of three distraction conditions whilst eating lunch, after which a covert snacking period was implemented. Lastly, participants filled out a subset of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire on emotional eating. Research questions: With this experiment I investigated whether distracted eating increases subsequent consumption (H1), and whether emotional eating moderates that relationship (H2). Results: Distracted eating did not increase subsequent snacking, and the distraction conditions did not significantly differ from one another (H1). Emotional eating did not moderate this relationship (H2). Conclusion: Neither distracted eating or emotional eating (as a moderator) showed a significant impact on subsequent eating, and limitations concerning the design and sample of the study and alternative explanations are discussed.Show less
Food overconsumption seems to negatively impact people’s well-being. This study hypothesized that anticipated guilt decreases food consumption, which may diminish for higher levels of distracted...Show moreFood overconsumption seems to negatively impact people’s well-being. This study hypothesized that anticipated guilt decreases food consumption, which may diminish for higher levels of distracted eating. The study had a between-subjects design. Food consumption was measured between lunch and dinner by self-report, anticipated guilt by a questionnaire, and distracted eating by manipulating the level of distraction during lunch. A simple and moderated regression analysis were conducted (N = 90). Results suggested that anticipated guilt decreased eating frequency (p = .042) but not the number of portions (p = .104) and the eating frequency compared to the regular eating frequency (p = .299). The relationship between anticipated guilt and food consumption did not seem to depend on distracted eating (p = .523). Anticipated guilt may be helpful to reduce eating frequency without considering the level of distraction during meal consumption. The study provides suggestions for future research and implications for marketers.Show less
Eating while being distracted (inattentive eating) increases the amount of snacking after the meal. This increased snacking can have negative health consequences. In the recent COVID-19 pandemic,...Show moreEating while being distracted (inattentive eating) increases the amount of snacking after the meal. This increased snacking can have negative health consequences. In the recent COVID-19 pandemic, snacking has increased. Another thing that has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic is the amount of people who are teleworking. While research on teleworking shows mixed results, several studies showed that teleworkers snack more and take less breaks than people who work on location. This study analyzes if there is a relationship between inattentive eating and teleworking. The data was collected by sending out an online questionnaire to people who worked from home or on location. Analyses were done to examine whether the two work locations differed on amount of lunch breaks, amount of attention for the food while eating, types of distractions and snacking behavior. The results showed that teleworkers take more breaks and pay more attention to their food while eating. Teleworkers were more engaged in distractions that decreased stress and thus also cognitive load. People who worked on location spent more time on their computer while eating. This is an activity with high cognitive load and related to more snacking in the afternoon. However, when controlling for interacting with a computer device, teleworkers did snack more. Overall, teleworking is not related to more inattentive eating, but is related to more snacking. So, the sudden increase of teleworking due to the COVID-19 pandemic has one positive side to it, as it is associated with less inattentive eating.Show less
