Stress and Eating: Disentangling the Effects of Psychological, Autonomic and Endocrine Components of Stress Response

Using a psychophysiological approach to stress, this study examines the joint effects of psychological, autonomic and endocrine reactivity on consumer food preference under stress through a randomized controlled study. Stress was manipulated using guided mental imagery technique. Consumer showed increased preference for high energy-density snack foods in the stress vs. control condition. The changes in food preference were jointly predicted by psychological, autonomic and endocrine responses. A model comparison approach shows that the inclusion of autonomic and endocrine responses contributed incrementally to the prediction of food preference. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Citation:

Zhenfeng Ma, Aida Faber, and Laurette Dube (2007) ,"Stress and Eating: Disentangling the Effects of Psychological, Autonomic and Endocrine Components of Stress Response", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 34, eds. Gavan Fitzsimons and Vicki Morwitz, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 712.