Debra A. Zellner

Food selection changes under stress

Two studies investigate the effect of stress on food choice. Experiment 1 demonstrates experimentally that stress causes changes in food choice away from healthy low fat foods (grapes) to less healthy high fat foods (M&Ms), confirming previous survey research. Experiment 2, a survey study, finds that more females than males report increasing food consumption when stressed. A much larger percentage of those who report increasing their food consumption when stressed (71%) are restrained eaters (i.e., dieters) than are people who undereat or who do not change the amount they eat when stressed (35%). The foods that they report overeating when stressed are foods they normally avoid for weight-loss or health reasons (i.e., highly caloric high fat snack foods). They report eating these foods to feel better. Both studies show that stress not only increases consumption in certain individuals but also shifts their food choice from lower fat to higher fat foods.

Compared to what? Effects of categorization on hedonic contrast

Test stimuli are rated less “good” following very good context stimuli than when presented either alone or following neutral context stimuli. This diminution in rating is calledhedonic contrast. In two experiments, the degree of hedonic contrast depended on how subjects were instructed to categorize context and test stimuli. Contrast was substantially attenuated if context and test stimuli were said to belong to different categories. The effect was demonstrated for beverages (Experiment 1) and birds (Experiment 2). Stimuli’s hedonic ratings were far less affected by other stimuli declared to belong to a different category than by stimuli declared to belong to a common category.

The effect of stress on men's food selection

This study investigates the effect of stress on food choice among men. Two groups of men were given either solvable (no-stress) or unsolvable (stress) anagrams to solve. Four bowls of snack foods-two healthy (peanuts and grapes) and two unhealthy (potato chips and M&M chocolate candies)-were available and subjects were invited to snack on them. Men in the no-stress group ate significantly more of the unhealthy foods than did men in the stress group. This finding is quite different from that found with women [Zellner et al. (2006). Food selection changes under stress. Physiology & Behavior, 87, 789-793]. Women tended to eat more grapes when not stressed than when stressed and more M&Ms when stressed than when not stressed. Thus, the effect of stress level on food choice is different for men and women.

Chocolate craving and the menstrual cycle

Spanish and American female chocolate cravers reported the usual times when they craved chocolate by answering an open-ended question. They also were asked directly if they craved chocolate perimenstrually. American women (40% open-ended, 60% direct) were more likely than were Spanish women (4% open-ended, 24% direct) to report that their chocolate cravings occurred perimenstrually when responding to both questions. The most frequently reported times (other than perimenstrually) that chocolate was craved were the same for Spanish men and women (after eating, studying) and for American men and women (evening), differing cross-culturally but not across gender. The results suggest a cultural origin rather than a physiological basis for chocolate craving.

Neatness counts. How plating affects liking for the taste of food.

Two studies investigated the effect that the arrangement of food on a plate has on liking for the flavor of the food. Food presented in a neatly arranged presentation is liked more than the same food presented in a messy manner. A third study found that subjects expected to like the food in the neat presentations more than in the messy ones and would be willing to pay more for them. They also indicated that the food in the neat presentations came from a higher quality restaurant and that more care was taken with its preparation than the food in the messy presentations. Only the animal-based food was judged as being more contaminated when presented in a messy rather than a neat way. Neatness of the food presentation increases liking for the taste of the food by suggesting greater care on the part of the preparer. Two mechanisms by which greater care might increase liking are discussed.

Hedonic contrast and condensation: Good stimuli make mediocre stimuli less good and less different

Loud sounds make soft sounds softer (contrast) and also make them less discriminable (which we callcondensation). We report on parallel phenomena in hedonics: Good stimuli reduce the pleasantness of less good stimuli, and also reduce people’s preferences among the less good stimuli. In Experiment 1, subjects rated the pleasantness of fruit juices diluted to approximate hedonic neutrality. Subjects who had just previously drunk and rated some good-tasting full-strength juices rated the diluted juices lower than did subjects who had not (hedonic contrast). In Experiment 2, subjects drank pairs of diluted juices and rated their preference for one juice over the other. Subjects who had just previously drunk and rated pairs of full-strength juices gave lower preference ratings between the diluted juices than did subjects who had not (condensation). Thus the same stimulus set produced contrast in Experiment 1 and condensation in Experiment 2, paralleling results in loudness.

Color–Odor Interactions: A Review and Model

Certain colors are seen as corresponding to, and thus appropriate to, certain odors (e.g., red for cherry odor). When colors accompany odors, our perceptions of the odors are changed. Appropriate colors often affect our perception of the odors differently from inappropriate colors. This paper discusses the literature on color–odor correspondences including possible causes of these correspondences. It then reviews findings on the influence of color on odor identification, odor discrimination, odor intensity, and odor pleasantness. Colors effect on both orthonasal and retronasal olfaction is discussed. A model for how color exerts its effects on odor is proposed.

Beauty beyond Compare: Effects of Context Extremity and Categorization on Hedonic Contrast.

Three studies investigated the effects of extreme context stimuli and categorization on hedonic contrast by having subjects judge the attractiveness of faces. Experiment 1 demonstrated hedonic contrast in both directions by using 2 sets of stimuli presented in different orders. Preceding moderately unattractive faces with moderately attractive faces made the unattractive faces more unattractive. When the order of presentation was reversed, the moderately attractive faces became more attractive. Experiment 2 found that this hedonic contrast was eliminated when the moderately attractive faces were replaced with extremely attractive faces. Experiment 3 showed that even with those 2 sets of extremely different stimuli, hedonic contrast occurred if subjects were instructed to think of both sets of stimuli as belonging to the same category. These findings, using hedonic judgments, parallel Sarriss (1967, 1968) finding with weights that when 2 sets of stimuli are too different in the dimension being judged, no contrast occurs. They also lend support to his explanation for this result. When the 2 sets of stimuli are too different they are not seen as belonging to the same category. They are therefore not compared, and contrast does not occur. The authors propose that these principles might apply to contrast in all settings.

The categorization effect in hedonic contrast : Experts differ from novices

Test stimuli are rated as less “good” when they follow very good context stimuli than when they are presented alone. This diminution in rating is called hedonic contrast. Contrast is attenuated if the context and the test stimuli are perceived as being in different categories. Because experts use as their basic-level categories what are the subordinate levels for novices, they will categorize when novices do not. Therefore, in the following studies, both experts and novices showed hedonic contrast when attractive context orchids preceded more neutral test orchids. However, only the novices showed hedonic contrast when attractive context irises preceded the test orchids. Novices viewed the irises and the orchids as “flowers” and therefore members of the same category, resulting in contrast. Experts, however, viewed the irises and the orchids as being in different categories; therefore, hedonic contrast did not occur.

The Color of Music: Correspondence through Emotion:

College students listened to four song clips. Following each clip, the students indicated which color(s) corresponded to each of the four songs by distributing five points among eleven basic color names. Each song had previously been identified as either a “happy” or “sad” song. Each participant listened to two “happy” and two “sad” songs in random order. There was more agreement in color choice for the songs eliciting the same emotions than for songs eliciting different emotions. Brighter colors such as yellow, red, green, and blue were usually assigned to the happy songs and gray was usually assigned to the sad songs. It was concluded that music-color correspondences occur via the underlying emotion common to the two stimuli.