Altruistic indulgence: people voluntarily consume high-calorie foods to make other people feel comfortable and pleasant

We explored a novel phenomenon where people in certain social contexts voluntarily consume high-calorie foods with the altruistic motive of making other people feel comfortable and pleasant. We hypothesized that people are likely to choose a high-calorie food, especially around others with whom they...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSocial influence Vol. 13; no. 4; pp. 223 - 239
Main Authors Yi, Youjae, Lee, Jacob C., Kim, Saetbyeol
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.10.2018
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects
Altruism
decision making for others
Friendship
Guilt
Indulgence
Social acceptance
social eating
Social environment
social influence
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Summary:We explored a novel phenomenon where people in certain social contexts voluntarily consume high-calorie foods with the altruistic motive of making other people feel comfortable and pleasant. We hypothesized that people are likely to choose a high-calorie food, especially around others with whom they have communal relationships (e.g., friends), because of the desire to induce in others feelings of pleasantness rather than guilt. A field study at a café shows that this phenomenon emerges in the real world, and a scenario-based experiment supports our altruistic account with mediation analyses. The alternative explanation of a social acceptance account is ruled out.
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ISSN:1553-4510
1553-4529
DOI:10.1080/15534510.2018.1546616