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Handbook of Eating and Drinking pp 1–15Cite as

Social Influences on Eating

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Abstract

Eating plays a central role in many social activities, and there is ample evidence to suggest that social context exerts a pervasive and powerful influence on what, and how much, people eat. This chapter presents an overview of the research on social influences on eating, with a specific focus on three main areas. First, we present evidence that people tend to adapt their food choices to those of other people, which is known as modelling. Second, we discuss evidence that people use their eating behaviors to convey a favorable impression of themselves to other people, which is known as impression management. Third, we present evidence on the social facilitation of eating, which is the tendency for people to eat more when eating with friends/family than they do when they eat alone. Throughout the chapter, we discuss the factors which may moderate the strength of these social influences on food intake and consider the mechanisms through which social influences affect eating.

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Acknowledgments

This work and the work cited herein were supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), grant number: ES/P01027X/1. The funder had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Conflict of Interest

Suzanne Higgs and Helen Ruddock declare they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Suzanne Higgs & Helen Ruddock

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  1. Suzanne Higgs
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  2. Helen Ruddock
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Correspondence to Suzanne Higgs .

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  1. Scientific Committee, Institut Paul Bocuse, Rockport, MA, USA

    Herbert L. Meiselman

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Higgs, S., Ruddock, H. (2019). Social Influences on Eating. In: Meiselman, H. (eds) Handbook of Eating and Drinking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_27-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_27-1

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