Of course this doesn’t apply to all men or in all situations, and where it does things are more often happening at the subconscious level. Nonetheless, a psychological study finds that men will eat significantly more food in the company of women than they will do with other men.
To arrive at this conclusion, researchers at Cornell University studied 105 adults. Each person, couple or group was enjoying luncheon at an “all-you-can-eat” Italian buffet. The observations took place over a two-week period.
Sitting on nearby tables, the researchers recorded the number of pizza slices and salad bowls each person eat. In doing so they noted the gender of the people involved and who they were dining with.
At the time the observations were recorded, the diners did not know they were being observed. However, as they paid their bills they were handed a questionnaire and asked if they could complete it. Questions included:
Do you feel full after your meal?
Do you feel you hurried your meal?
How comfortable do you feel after eating?
The findings showed men who dined with women eat 93 percent more pizza and 86 percent more salad than men who eat with other men. The amount a woman eats, either with a man, alone, or with another woman, remained constant. However, when they eat with men, most women said they felt like they overate and that the meal was hurried.
The inference is that men eat more with women to “show off,” making the dining experience into an eating competition.
The research is published in the journal Evolutionary Psychological and the study is titled “Eating Heavily: Men Eat More in the Company of Women.”
