We all know that food shopping when hungry is a bad idea.
In a new study, researchers suggest that people might want to avoid making any important decisions about the future on an empty stomach.
They found that hunger could strongly change people’s decision-making, making them impatient and more likely to settle for a small reward that arrives sooner than a larger one promised at a later date.
The research was conducted by a team from the University of Dundee.
The team designed an experiment, in which participants were asked questions relating to food, money and other rewards when satiated and again when they had skipped a meal.
While it was perhaps unsurprising that hungry people were more likely to settle for smaller food incentives that arrived sooner, the researchers found that being hungry actually changes preferences for rewards entirely unrelated to food.
This shows that a reluctance to defer gratification may carry over into other kinds of decisions, such as financial and interpersonal ones.
The team believes it is important that people know that hunger might affect their preferences in ways they don’t necessarily predict.
There is also a danger that people experiencing hunger due to poverty may make decisions that entrench their situation.
The team says people generally know that when they are hungry they shouldn’t really go food shopping because they are more likely to make choices that are either unhealthy or indulgent.
The current research suggests this could have an impact on other kinds of decisions as well.
For example, if people are going to speak with pensions or mortgage advisor—doing so while hungry might make them care a bit more about immediate gratification at the expense of a potentially more rosy future.
The lead author of the study is Dr. Benjamin Vincent from the University’s Psychology department.
The study is published in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
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