Why you can't eat in the company of overweight people

It turns out that we subconsciously begin to imitate our food partner.

A group of psychologists led by Mitsuru Shimizu conducted an interesting experiment to find out whether our food preferences are influenced by the weight of the person with whom we share a meal.

To do this, they invited a professional actress who ate in a group of people, changing her image. As part of the experiment, the thin actress was made “full” using special pads. The woman ate in company, being both “overweight” and thin. The lady made a choice either in favor of junk food (for example, pasta instead of salad) or adhered to a healthy diet.

According to the conditions of the experiment, after choosing an actress, its participants had to put the same thing on their plate - either pasta or salad. Interestingly, regardless of the choice of actress, participants preferred pasta when she was in the image of a “fat person.”

Mitsuru Shimizu believes that people understand the importance of healthy eating and want to follow this principle. However, the presence of a fat person seems to cancel all our beliefs. Psychologists are confident that awareness of this fact will force people to have more control over their diet.