They put more on their plate to make others more comfortable

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Feb 02, 2012 @ 12:26 PM
Posted by Jessica Chou, Editor

It's always difficult to keep to your diet at parties, and now studies show that people-pleasers may have a tendency to eat more because of societal pressures.

A recent study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology found that subjects with the personality trait of sociotropy, or people-pleasing, tended to eat more in social situations.

"People-pleasers feel more intense pressure to eat when they believe that their eating will help another person feel more comfortable," lead researcher Julie Exline said.

The study involved 100 college students who were first given a personality test, then seated with an actor who offered them MM's. Researchers found that subjects who had higher people-pleasing tendencies took more than other subjects.

Similarly, another study noted that women tend to eat the same amount as their dining companions when dining with people they don't know, even going so far as to mimick the timing of bites.

The Daily Byte is a regular column dedicated to covering interesting food news and trends across the country. Click here for previous columns.