Intense Feelings Can Lead to Poor Choices

Most people know it’s not a good idea to go to the grocery store when you’ve had a tough day at work and haven’t eaten for 12 hours, or to go out drinking after getting some bad news. We know that the stress we’re under would probably lead us to make some poor health decisions.

According to a new study reported in the Journal of Consumer Research, you might be just as likely to make bad choices if you go food shopping after signing your biggest deal ever at work or go out drinking after getting some fantastic, exciting news.

Authors Alexander Fedorikhin of Indiana University and Vanessa Patrick of the University of Houston say it’s not the type of feelings that matter, it’s the intensity. High levels of emotional arousal, whether positive or negative, make people more likely to make poor health-related choices, according to their research.

In three experiments, Fedorikhin and Patrick provided different kinds of stimulus to subjects and then offered them a snack, giving them a choice between grapes and M&Ms. In addition to observing which snack subjects chose, the researchers kept track of how carefully they seemed to monitor their consumption.

The researchers found that when subjects were shown a positive but exciting video clip, they were more likely to choose M&Ms and to eat more of them than people who were shown a positive but calm video clip. They also found that combining light exercise with even a calm video clip made people more likely to choose the candy over fruit.

Finally, the researchers speculate that even merely taxing your mental powers can provide enough stimulation to make people more likely to make bad health choices. People who were asked to remember a 7-digit number wanted M&Ms, while people asked to remember just a 2-digit number were content with grapes.

Earlier research has shown that happy people are generally more likely to make better health choices than people in more negative moods. The current study suggests that the best possible frame of mind for making good health decisions is positive, but calm.