Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369

. 2015 Apr 1;6:369.

doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369. eCollection 2015.

Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self

Andrew B Moynihan¹, Wijnand A P van Tilburg², Eric R Igou¹, Arnaud Wisman³, Alan E Donnelly⁴, Jessie B Mulcaire⁵

Affiliations

¹ SOCO-UL Lab, Department of Psychology, Education & Health Sciences Faculty, University of Limerick Limerick, Ireland.
² Centre for Research on Self and Identity, School of Psychology, University of Southampton Southampton, UK.
³ School of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent Canterbury, UK.
⁴ Centre for Physical Activity and Health Research, Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department, Education & Health Sciences Faculty, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
⁵ School of Medicine, University of St. Andrews Fife, UK.

PMID: 25883579
PMCID: PMC4381486
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369

Free PMC article

Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self

Andrew B Moynihan et al. Front Psychol. 2015.

Free PMC article

. 2015 Apr 1;6:369.

doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Andrew B Moynihan¹, Wijnand A P van Tilburg², Eric R Igou¹, Arnaud Wisman³, Alan E Donnelly⁴, Jessie B Mulcaire⁵

Affiliations

¹ SOCO-UL Lab, Department of Psychology, Education & Health Sciences Faculty, University of Limerick Limerick, Ireland.
² Centre for Research on Self and Identity, School of Psychology, University of Southampton Southampton, UK.
³ School of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent Canterbury, UK.
⁴ Centre for Physical Activity and Health Research, Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department, Education & Health Sciences Faculty, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
⁵ School of Medicine, University of St. Andrews Fife, UK.

PMID: 25883579
PMCID: PMC4381486
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369

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Abstract

Research indicates that being bored affectively marks an appraised lack of meaning in the present situation and in life. We propose that state boredom increases eating in an attempt to distract from this experience, especially among people high in objective self-awareness. Three studies were conducted to investigate boredom's effects on eating, both naturally occurring in a diary study and manipulated in two experiments. In Study 1, a week-long diary study showed that state boredom positively predicted calorie, fat, carbohydrate, and protein consumption. In Study 2, a high (vs. low) boredom task increased the desire to snack as opposed to eating something healthy, especially amongst those participants high in objective self-awareness. In addition, Study 3 demonstrated that among people high in objective self-awareness, high (vs. low) boredom increased the consumption of less healthy foods and the consumption of more exciting, healthy foods. However, this did not extend to unexciting, healthy food. Collectively, these novel findings signify the role of boredom in predicting maladaptive and adaptive eating behaviors as a function of the need to distant from the experience of boredom. Further, our results suggest that more exciting, healthy food serves as alternative to maladaptive consumption following boredom.

Keywords: boredom; individual differences; meaning; self-awareness; sensation-seeking; unhealthy eating.

Figures

FIGURE 1

Snacking desire by boredom and objective self-awareness (Study 2).

FIGURE 2

(A) Sweets consumption by boredom and objective self-awareness (Study 3). (B) Tomato consumption by boredom and objective self-awareness (Study 3).

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References

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1. Adriaanse M. A., de Ridder D. T. D., de Wit J. B. F. (2009). Finding the critical cue: Implementation intentions to change one’s diet work best when tailored to personally relevant reasons for unhealthy eating. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 35 60–71 10.1177/0146167208325612 - DOI - PubMed
1. Adriaanse M. A., de Ridder D. D., Evers C. (2011). Eating when emotional or emotional about eating? Psychol. Health 26 23–39 10.1080/08870440903207627 - DOI - PubMed
1. Arndt J., Goldenberg J. L. (2010). “When self-enhancement drives health-decisions,” in Handbook of Self-Enhancement and Self-Protection, eds Alicke M. D., Sedikides C., editors. (New York, NY: Guilford Press; ), 380–398 10.1080/14768320500537662 - DOI
1. Arndt J., Greenberg J., Simon L., Pyszczynski T., Solomon S. (1998). Terror management and self-awareness: evidence that mortality salience provokes avoidance of the self-focused state. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 24 1216–1227 10.1037/0022-3514.83.1.26 - DOI

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[1] Abramson E. E., Stinson S. G. (1977). Boredom and eating in obese and non-obese individuals. Addict. Behav. 2 181–185 10.1016/0306-4603(77)90015-6 - DOI - PubMed

[2] Abramson E. E., Stinson S. G. (1977). Boredom and eating in obese and non-obese individuals. Addict. Behav. 2 181–185 10.1016/0306-4603(77)90015-6 - DOI - PubMed

[3] Adriaanse M. A., de Ridder D. T. D., de Wit J. B. F. (2009). Finding the critical cue: Implementation intentions to change one’s diet work best when tailored to personally relevant reasons for unhealthy eating. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 35 60–71 10.1177/0146167208325612 - DOI - PubMed

[4] Adriaanse M. A., de Ridder D. T. D., de Wit J. B. F. (2009). Finding the critical cue: Implementation intentions to change one’s diet work best when tailored to personally relevant reasons for unhealthy eating. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 35 60–71 10.1177/0146167208325612 - DOI - PubMed

[5] Adriaanse M. A., de Ridder D. D., Evers C. (2011). Eating when emotional or emotional about eating? Psychol. Health 26 23–39 10.1080/08870440903207627 - DOI - PubMed

[6] Adriaanse M. A., de Ridder D. D., Evers C. (2011). Eating when emotional or emotional about eating? Psychol. Health 26 23–39 10.1080/08870440903207627 - DOI - PubMed

[7] Arndt J., Goldenberg J. L. (2010). “When self-enhancement drives health-decisions,” in Handbook of Self-Enhancement and Self-Protection, eds Alicke M. D., Sedikides C., editors. (New York, NY: Guilford Press; ), 380–398 10.1080/14768320500537662 - DOI

[8] Arndt J., Goldenberg J. L. (2010). “When self-enhancement drives health-decisions,” in Handbook of Self-Enhancement and Self-Protection, eds Alicke M. D., Sedikides C., editors. (New York, NY: Guilford Press; ), 380–398 10.1080/14768320500537662 - DOI

[9] Arndt J., Greenberg J., Simon L., Pyszczynski T., Solomon S. (1998). Terror management and self-awareness: evidence that mortality salience provokes avoidance of the self-focused state. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 24 1216–1227 10.1037/0022-3514.83.1.26 - DOI

[10] Arndt J., Greenberg J., Simon L., Pyszczynski T., Solomon S. (1998). Terror management and self-awareness: evidence that mortality salience provokes avoidance of the self-focused state. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 24 1216–1227 10.1037/0022-3514.83.1.26 - DOI

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Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self

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Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self

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