Happy Snacking: An Investigation Into the Effect of Discrete Emotional Episodes on the Momentary Decision to Snack on Unhealthy but Rewarding Foods

Abstract

The concept of “emotional eating” refers to food intake that is triggered by negative emotions. While there is supportive evidence for the role of negative affect in eating, the influence of positive emotions has been largely overlooked. Moreover, previous studies on emotion-related eating often focused on sustained affective states and eating behaviour aggregated across longer time windows. Therefore, the current project took a particular focus on positive emotions and aimed to investigate the effect of discrete emotional episodes on the momentary decision to snack on unhealthy but rewarding foods. A novel quiz paradigm was employed in Studies 1 and 3, where participants received real feedback on their responses and provided trial-by-trial ratings of their affect and expectation and then decided whether to snack. Extending previous studies, finding increased consumption following sustained negative moods, momentary positive emotions led to greater snacking rates than negative or neutral emotions. Furthermore, unexpected positive emotions led to a greater snacking likelihood than expected positive emotions. Study 2 used an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) approach to increase the ecological validity of the laboratory findings. Participants reported their real-time emotions and snacking behaviours following the receipt of academic feedback. While no significant association between momentary positive emotions and snacking desire was found, momentary negative emotions were associated with a reduced snacking desire, partially replicating the laboratory findings. Taken together, the results suggested emotional eating following momentary emotions and sustained mood states is based on different mechanisms, with positive momentary emotions being an important trigger for increased snack consumption. The present research has important implications for lifestyle interventions tackling antecedents of eating episodes and future projects should aim to fully establish the mechanisms behind the present effects.