Modeling of Food Intake

Modeling of food intake refers to the tendency for people to adjust the amount of food they eat to approximate the amount eaten by their eating companion. People eat more when eating with someone who eats a lot, and they eat less when eating with someone who eat very little. In this chapter, we summarize the research documenting the modeling effect. We also examine the potential impact of factors such as how hungry people are, their gender, and their body weight/size. Finally, we consider potential explanations for why people model the food intake of others, including the desire to affiliate with others and the social norms that are communicated by the other person’s behavior.