Its not just your mindset that can shape your eating habits.
Your environment plays a role, too.
This post originally appeared onThe Conversation.
Want Some Leftovers?
It also loops in the idea that your state of mind influences your behavior at any given moment.
However, the real experiment started when experimenters then invited the participants to help themselves to leftovers.
The events leading up to this snack session varied widely.
In these varied kitchen environments, participants were also primed to have one of three mindsets.
Some were told to write about a time when they felt particularly overwhelmed.
Others described an instance when they felt composed.
Finally, the control group simply wrote about the last lecture they attended.
So, who ate the most?
However, in all the other conditions, the results didnt differ in any significant way.
Other health behaviors might also be susceptible to the dual forces of mindset and environment.
The results of this study are certainly compelling.
But as someone who studies mindsets, I thought there were some areas for further inquiry.
The authors use aself-regulation model of willpowerto explain their results.
Those who believe that willpower is abundant exhibit higher levels of self-controleven when stressed out.
However, compared to feelings, mindsets are generally viewed asmore persistent over time.
What does this mean for those of us trying to eat fewer cookies and less ice cream?
And it also wouldnt hurt to take care of that pile of dirty dishes in the sink.
Image byElvetica(Shutterstock).
