Weighing heavy: Heavy serving dishes increase food serving.

The current work demonstrates that people serve themselves greater amounts of food when carrying heavier serving dishes. This effect occurs because increases in carried weight lower consumers' sensitivity to the weight of the food served. Decreased sensitivity to weight of food served in turn l...

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Main Authors: Aner Tal, Amir Grinstein, Mirella Kleijnen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288956
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author Aner Tal
Amir Grinstein
Mirella Kleijnen
author_facet Aner Tal
Amir Grinstein
Mirella Kleijnen
author_sort Aner Tal
collection DOAJ
description The current work demonstrates that people serve themselves greater amounts of food when carrying heavier serving dishes. This effect occurs because increases in carried weight lower consumers' sensitivity to the weight of the food served. Decreased sensitivity to weight of food served in turn leads people to continue serving past the point where they would normally stop. The paper demonstrates this effect across two lab studies involving actual food serving (with a third lab study extending the outcomes to unhealthy food choices reported in the S1 Appendix). The studies also demonstrate liking for the food moderates the effect, such that carrying greater weight leads people to serve an increased amount of liked, but not of less well liked, foods. The findings extend prior research regarding the effects of dish weight on food judgment to provide a first demonstration of effects of weight not only on judgment but on behavior. In this, they help expand our understanding of the ways in which elements in the eating environment effects food consumption. In addition, the studies provide initial evidence for the mechanism behind the phenomenon: reduced sensitivity to weight. The research carries important implications for public well being, given that increases in serving sizes may contribute to obesity.
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spelling doaj.art-410989eb1dcf4b2d9b95fc418ad029232023-09-04T05:31:36ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01188e028895610.1371/journal.pone.0288956Weighing heavy: Heavy serving dishes increase food serving.Aner TalAmir GrinsteinMirella KleijnenThe current work demonstrates that people serve themselves greater amounts of food when carrying heavier serving dishes. This effect occurs because increases in carried weight lower consumers' sensitivity to the weight of the food served. Decreased sensitivity to weight of food served in turn leads people to continue serving past the point where they would normally stop. The paper demonstrates this effect across two lab studies involving actual food serving (with a third lab study extending the outcomes to unhealthy food choices reported in the S1 Appendix). The studies also demonstrate liking for the food moderates the effect, such that carrying greater weight leads people to serve an increased amount of liked, but not of less well liked, foods. The findings extend prior research regarding the effects of dish weight on food judgment to provide a first demonstration of effects of weight not only on judgment but on behavior. In this, they help expand our understanding of the ways in which elements in the eating environment effects food consumption. In addition, the studies provide initial evidence for the mechanism behind the phenomenon: reduced sensitivity to weight. The research carries important implications for public well being, given that increases in serving sizes may contribute to obesity.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288956
spellingShingle Aner Tal
Amir Grinstein
Mirella Kleijnen
Weighing heavy: Heavy serving dishes increase food serving.
PLoS ONE
title Weighing heavy: Heavy serving dishes increase food serving.
title_full Weighing heavy: Heavy serving dishes increase food serving.
title_fullStr Weighing heavy: Heavy serving dishes increase food serving.
title_full_unstemmed Weighing heavy: Heavy serving dishes increase food serving.
title_short Weighing heavy: Heavy serving dishes increase food serving.
title_sort weighing heavy heavy serving dishes increase food serving
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288956
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AT amirgrinstein weighingheavyheavyservingdishesincreasefoodserving
AT mirellakleijnen weighingheavyheavyservingdishesincreasefoodserving