The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the opinions of people eating together affect the taste of the foods they eat. In addition, if the opinions of others influence taste for one of the people eating with them, are the others’ opinions related to the empathy of individuals? Finally, this study was also intended to consider whether the taste threshold changes depending on the opinions of others. Twelve healthy young women (aged 18.4 ± 0.8 years; mean ± SD) participated in the present study. The participants tasted bread under three conditions: 1) quiet condition: a participant ate with three quiet persons, 2) positive condition: a participant ate with three persons who were talking favorably about taste, and 3) negative condition: a participant ate with three persons who were talking negatively about the taste. The electrical taste threshold was tested before and after tasting the bread, and a visual analog scale (VAS) was completed immediately after the tasting. Before the first trial, participants were asked to complete the Interpersonal Reactive Index (IRI). In the positive condition, the taste score increased significantly compared with the negative condition. There was no significant relationship between taste and empathic concern. To our knowledge, taste changed according to the comments of other people who were eating together. However, the change in taste due to the other’s speech was not related to the individual’s empathy. The results of the present study suggest that people experience food as delicious when others eating with them comment about the food being “delicious,” and this tendency did not depend on individuals’ empathy.
References
[1]
Bellisle, F. and Dalix, M. (2001) Cognitive Restraint Can Be Offset by Distraction, Leading to Increased Meal Intake in Women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 74, 197-200. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/74.2.197
[2]
de Castro, J.M. (1991) Social Facilitation of the Spontaneous Meal Size Human Succors on Both Weekdays and Weekends. Physiology & Behavior, 491, 1289-1291. https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(91)90365-U
[3]
de Castro, J.M., Brewer, E.M., Elmore, D.K. and Orozco, S. (1991) Social Facilitation of the Spontaneous Meal Size of Humans Is Independent of Time, Place, Alcohol, or Snacks. Appetite, 15, 89-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/0195-6663(90)90042-7
[4]
de Castro, J.M. (1995) Social Facilitation of Food Intake in Humans. Appetite, 24, 260. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-6663(95)99835-7
[5]
Herman, C.P. (2015) The Social Facilitation of Eating: A Review. Appetite, 86, 61-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.09.016
[6]
de Castro, J.M. and de Castro, E.S. (1989) Spontaneous Meal Patterns of Humans: Influence of the Presence of Other People. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 50, 237-247. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/50.2.237
[7]
Baumeister, R.F. and Leary, M.R. (1995) The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
[8]
Hetherington, M.M. (2007) Cues to Overeat: Psychological Factors Influencing Overconsumption. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 66, 113-123. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665107005344
[9]
Sommer, W., Sturmer, B., Shmuilovich, O., Martin-Loeches, M. and Schacht, A. (2013) How about Lunch? Consequences of the Meal Context on Cognition and Emotion. PLoS ONE, 8, e70314. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0070314
[10]
Herman, C.P. (2017) The Social Facilitation of Eating or the Facilitation of Social Eating? Journal of Eating Disorders, 27, 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-017-0146-2
[11]
Clendenen, V.I., Herman, C.P. and Polivy, J. (1994) Social Facilitation of Eating among Friends and Strangers. Appetite, 23, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1006/appe.1994.1030
[12]
Kihlberg, I., Johansson, L., Langsrud, O. and Risvik, E. (2005) Effects of Information on Liking of Bread. Food Quality and Preference, 16, 25-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2003.12.005
[13]
Caporale, G. and Monteleone, E. (2004) Influence of Information about Manufacturing Process on Beer Acceptability. Food Quality and Preference, 15, 271-278. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-3293(03)00067-3
[14]
Siegrist, M. and Cousin, M.E. (2009) Expectations Influence Sensory Experience in a Wine Tasting. Appetite, 52, 762-765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2009.02.002
[15]
Lobb, B., Elliffe, D.M. and Stillman, J.A. (2000) Reliability of Electrogustometry for the Estimation of Taste Thresholds. Clinical Otolaryngology, 25, 531-534. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2273.2000.00392.x
[16]
Davis, H.M. (1983) Measuring Individual Dereferences in Empathy: Evidence for a Multidimensional Approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113-126. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
[17]
Cornelissen, P.L., Hancock, P.J.B., Kiviniemi, V., George, H.R. and Tovée, M.J. (2009) Patterns of Eye Movements When Male and Female Observers Judge Female Attractiveness, Body Fat And waist-to-Hip Ratio. Evol Hum Behav, 30, 417-428.
[18]
Nuthmann, A. and Einhauser, W. (2015) A New Approach to Modeling the Influence of Image Features on Fixation Selection in Scenes. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1339, 82-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12705
[19]
Stoll, J., Thrun, M., Nuthmann, A. and Einhauser, W. (2015) Overt Attention in Natural Scenes: Objects Dominate Features. Vision Research, 107, 36-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2014.11.006
[20]
Eisenberg, N. and Miller, P.A. (1987) The Relation of Empathy to Prosocial and Related Behaviors. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 91-119. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.101.1.91
[21]
Sakurai, S. (1988) The Relationship between Empathy and Helping Behavior in College Students. Bulletin of Nara University of Education, Cultural and Social Science, 37, 149-154.
[22]
Davis, M.H. (1980) A Multidimensional Approach to Individual Differences in Empathy. JSAS Catalogue of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85.
[23]
Bratek, A., Bulska, W., Born, M. and Seweryn, M. (2015) Empathy among Physicians, Medical Students and Candidates. Psychiatria Danubina, 27, S48-S52.
[24]
Alfred, C. and Coats, M.D. (1974) Effects of Age, Sex, and Smoking on Electrical Taste Threshold. Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, 83, 365-366. https://doi.org/10.1177/000348947408300312
[25]
Lee, J.W., Son, H.J., Shin, S.H., Rhyu, M.R., Kim, J.Y. and Ye, M.K. (2014) Differences in Taste Thresholds According to Sex and Age Groups in Korean. Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, 57, 692-697. https://doi.org/10.3342/kjorl-hns.2014.57.10.692
[26]
Donaldson, L.F., Bennett, L., Bai, S. and Melichar, J.K. (2009) Taste and Weight: Is There a Link? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 90, 800s-803s. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.27462Q
[27]
Ileri-Gurel, E., Pehlivanoglu, B. and Doga, M. (2013) Effect of Acute Stress on Taste Perception: In Relation with Baseline Anxiety Level and Body Weight. Chemical Senses, 38, 27-34. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjs075
[28]
Grant, R., Ferguson, M.M., Strang, R., Turner, J.W. and Bone, I. (1987) Evoked Taste Thresholds in a Normal Population and the Application of Electorogustometry to Trigeminal Nerve Disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 50, 12-21. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.50.1.12
[29]
Pereira, L.J. and van der Bilt, A. (2016) The Influence of Oral Processing, Food Perception and Social Aspects on Food Consumption: A Review. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation, 143, 630-648. https://doi.org/10.1111/joor.12395
[30]
Birren, F. (1963) Color and Human Appetite. Food Technology, 17, 553-555.
[31]
Szczesniak, A.S. and Kleyn, D.H. (1963) Consumer Awareness of Texture and Other Food Attributes. Food Technology, 17, 74-77.
[32]
Platte, P., Herbert, C., Pauli, P. and Breslin, P.A.S. (2013) Oral Perceptions of Fat and Taste Stimuli Are Modulated by Affect and Mood Induction. PLoS ONE, 8, e65006. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065006