Why You Usually Eat As You Do

 Why you usually eat as you do is a massive health-relevant question with massive health implications.  So, you would think that there would be massive psychological research dedicated to the issue.  Unfortunately, not.  As I wrote in my Don't Rest in Peace book and in this blog many times, human behavior is multiply determined. Especially when it comes to important behaviors, we almost always do what we for do for a host of reasons, not for any one single, simple reason.  In any given context there is a hierarchy of reasons for an important behavior to be enacted.

Since eating is one of our most important health-determinative behaviors, we need to investigate eating as best we can to identify psychological factors highest on the explanatory hierarchy.  That is what Richard J. Stevenson (2016) did, and it is his work that forms the basis for what I am about to present.

Stevenson reviewed the psychological literature concerning the habitual diets of healthy adults. Consistent with what I already have suggested, he found a dearth of relevant research.  However, Stevenson did reach some tentative conclusions and offered some informed speculations based on the available data.

The most important conclusion is Stevenson’s belief that all psychologically important realms of life are influenced by habitual diet.  For instance, our cognition, emotion, and overt behaviors are powerfully affected by what we eat.  And what we habitually eat, in turn, is determined to a significant degree by how we think, feel, and act.  Stevenson cites some relationships in particular.  He mentions that impulsive persons tend to follow a diet of substandard nutrition.  Those scoring low on the personality dimensions of conscientiousness and openness to experience are often similarly impaired, as are emotionally distressed or depressed people.

Although the research in question did not assertively suggest specific reasons for the relationships that it uncovered, other studies and clinical experience offer some possibilities worth considering.

First, one certainly would expect poor impulse control to promote a get-it-now-and-worry-about-the-consequences-later eating orientation.  The impulsive person likely would be inclined toward fast food and tasty morsels regardless of their caloric load or nutritional shortcomings. Moreover, an impulsive person would not reflect on the later consequences that eventually flow from harmful food choices.  Second, since conscientiousness is roughly synonymous with self-discipline, a person lacking in conscientiousness would be expected to evidence eating habits similar to an impulsive person.  Third, consider openness to experience; someone low on that characteristic is likely to resist information about healthful eating advice,  Once having developed an unhealthful eating pattern, he/she will be inclined to continue in that mode.  Fourth, an individual who is distressed and/or depressed looks for something to ease the pain.  And, as we all know, many of the least healthful foods are relentlessly marketed to contemporary westerners who have come to regard them as most delectable.

So, to determine your eating habits, introspect about what you think, feel, and do food-wise.  All three are important and all three can help you can gain valuable insights.  Be especially mindful of how your standing relevant to impulse control, conscientiousness, and openness to experience can affect what you usually eat.  Be aware of the possibility that sometimes you might eating in order to assuage your distress or depression.  

Reference

Stevenson, R. (2016).  Psychological Correlates of Habitual Diet in Healthy Adults.

Psychological Bulletin, Sep 12., No Pagination Specified.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000065.