In the chilly, rainy winter of 2007, crowds poured in to Aiello’s Italian Restaurant, between Syracuse and Binghamton, New York, to make the most of its all-you-can-eat buffet of pizza, salad, breadsticks, pasta, and soup. The diners tucked in at the buffet without realizing that when they reached the cash register to pay, they’d be given a short questionnaire probing them about their restaurant experience and their food choices.
Four studies resulted from this restaurant data, generating the buzz you would expect from new research on humans’ constantly examined eating habits. The one that found the most pickup in mainstream media suggested that men ate 93 percent more pizza and 86 percent more salad in the presence of women—a result that the authors of the study attributed to their desire to “show off.” The other three papers—all about food costs—drew on data collected from participants who dined at the restaurant after receiving coupons to discount their meals to either $4 or $8. The findings generally suggested that paying less for your food is correlated with lower satisfaction and even more feelings of having overeaten.
The studies were all co-authored by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell University best known for his popular books on eating behavior and previous position as the executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. You’ve probably even heard of one of his more famous findings—which shows that people eat more from larger plates because portions look smaller and suggests that downsizing your plate could help you reduce calorie intake by around 22 percent. If you’re looking to understand eating habits, Wansink’s work has been considered a place to start.
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