Running head: ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FOOD-RELATED DECISION MAKING

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On the Psychology of Food-related Decision Making:

The Effects of Stress, LHS and Self-Esteem on Hedonic Food Consumption

Marc Leenstra

University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Author Note:

I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. Bob Fennis for all his feedback and effort during this semester MSc Marketing Management May 2021 m.leenstra@student.rug.nl Student number: 3217515 Word count: 5.018

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Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between stress and the desire to engage in hedonic food

consumption. And more specifically, whether Life History Strategy (LHS) and self-esteem can moderate

this relationship. An experiment was conducted to firstly, see if the study of Fennis et al. (unpublished

manuscript) could be replicated in order to confirm their hypothesis that LHS will moderate the

relationship between stress and the desire/choice for hedonic food in such a way that it will boost the

relationship for fast LHS and that the relationship will be attenuated for slow LHS. Secondly, due to

previous findings on self-esteem acting as a moderator on stress related relationships, the experiment was

focused on proving the following hypothesis. That self-esteem will negatively moderate the relationship

between stress and the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption in such a way, that people with a

higher self-esteem will be less effected by stress when making a choice whether or not to engage in

hedonic food consumption.

Results, however, showed no evidence to confirm either of the hypotheses.

Keywords: Life History Strategies, Stress, Hedonic Food Consumption, Self-Esteem

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Bob Fennis

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If this hypothesis will be confirmed, this research could have an importance on how to improve people’s health and decrease the obesity rates. Courses to help boost self-esteem could be implemented in every situation where people deal with stress on a regular basis. Especially in situations with children,

implementing such a course could help to prevent children to get overweight in the first place.

Going forward, this article will consist out of two analysis in which the two different (potential) moderators on the relationship between stress and the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption, will

be examined.

2. Method

In the present research, one experiment was be conducted, testing both hypotheses. Firstly, that

LHS will moderate the relationship between stress and the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption

in such a way that it will boost the relationship for people with a fast LHS and that the relationship will

be attenuated for people with a slow LHS. And secondly, that self-esteem will negatively moderate the

relationship between stress and the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption.

For the experiment, the amount of stress that a participant experiences, was manipulated by

assigning them to read an article that was either intended to be stressful, or to be relaxing. Firstly, it is

predicted that participants who have a fast LHS, will have a higher desire for hedonic foods when they

are exposed to a higher amount of stress. In contrast, it is predicted that for participants who have a slow

LHS, a higher amount of stress will not significantly influence the desire for hedonic foods. Furthermore,

it is predicted that the participants who have a low self-esteem are more likely to desire hedonic foods

when they are exposed to a higher amount of stress. Contradictive, is predicted that participants having a

high self-esteem, will not experience an increased desire for hedonic foods when the amount of exposed

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2.1. Participants and design

Due to the corona pandemic, it has become more difficult to perform an experiment in real-life

conditions with meeting people face to face. Therefore, this experiment was conducted in an online setting

using a convenient sample of 100 participants that were gathered among friends and family. The

participants in the study were randomly assigned in a design with stress (high vs. low) as a between

subjects factor and LHS (replication) and self-esteem as a measured predictor. Retaining all valid (i.e.

non-missing) observations, the sample remained at 99 participants from various ages (M = 31.04 , SD =

12.30), gender (43.4% female), professions (43.4% students, 56.6% having a professional job) and

nationalities (94.9% Dutch).

2.2. Procedures and measures

Because the experiment was done in an online environment, participants were provided with a

short introduction before they started (Exhibit 1). In this intro, there was explained that the survey would

consist out of two studies. The first study aiming at understanding how people read articles, and the second

study is aiming at researching purchase behavior.

For the first part of the experiment, participants were asked to carefully read an article provided

by (Fennis B.M., Unpublished manuscript) (Exhibit 2). In the high stress condition, this article was about

the economic crisis and the difficulty of getting a job in todays economy. For the low stress condition,

participants were presented an article about relaxation. After the participants had completed this task, they

were asked to imagine that they were shopping in their regular supermarket. The participants then were

presented a list with 27 different shopping items, including both hedonic (e.g. Ice Cream, Chips) and

utilitarian (e.g. detergent, milk) products of which they had to indicate how much they were willing to

spend on each product (Exhibit 3).

The proportion (of total spending) of money spend on the hedonic foods (cookies, potato chips,

ice cream, and chocolate) was used to measure the dependent variable – desire/choice to acquire hedonic

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function of the task using a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”,

asking participants to indicate how stressful the article made them feel (exhibit 4), with higher scores

indicating stronger feelings of stress (M = 3.04, SD = 1.72). Similarly, individual differences in consumer

LHS was measured by letting participants fill in The K-SF-42 scale (Figueredo et al., 2017), consisting

of 42 statements, indicating how much each statement applies to them (exhibit 5). This scale includes

statements like “When faced with a bad situation, I do what I can to change it for the better” and “ I am nervous when partners get too close to me”. The scale uses a 7-point Likert scale for the first 24 statements, ranging from 1 (Disagree Strongly) to 7 (Agree Strongly). For the remaining 18 statements a 4-point

Likert scale is used, ranging from 1 (Not at all) to 4 (A lot). Because both scales have a different number

of points on their Likert scale, the values were first standardized, using the Z-scores. Next the Z-scores

on all 42 items were averaged to create an overall LHS index with higher scores indicating a slow LHS

and lower scores a fast LHS (M = 0.00, SD = 1.00, Cronbach’s α = 0.86).

Moreover, participants’ self-esteem was measured using Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 2006) (exhibit 6). This scale includes items such as: “On the whole, I am satisfied with

myself”, and “I feel that I’m a person of worth”. Participants were asked to answer 10 different statements concerning their self-esteem, using a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly

disagree) indicating how much they agreed with each statement, where a higher score indicates a higher

self-esteem and a lower score a lower self-esteem (M = 3.50, SD = 0.65, Cronbach’s α = 0.92).

Finally, in order to assess the robustness of the findings, the current socioeconomics of the

participants were measured by providing them with a list of 6 statements (Griskevicius et al., 2011)

(exhibit 7), including “My family usually had enough money for things when I was growing up”, and “ I

have enough money to buy the things I want”, of which the participants had to indicate how much they agreed to each statement, using a 9-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 9 (totally agree)

(M = 6.75, SD = 1.32, Cronbach’s α = 0.80), with higher scores indicating a higher socioeconomic status.

Next to measuring the variables important to the hypotheses, also the demographics had to be

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nationality (exhibit 8). At the end of the experiment the participants were shown a debriefing section,

thanking them for their time and effort (exhibit 9). Participants were able to leave their e-mail address in

case they wanted to receive an e-email concerning the research and its results (exhibit 10).

3. Results

In order to test both the hypotheses, two multiple regression analysis have been performed, using PROCESS (model 1).

Firstly, for both analyses, the manipulation of stress was successful since the article about the

economic crisis and the difficulty of getting a job indeed provoked more stress (Mhighstress = 4.1,

SDhighstress = 1.53) than the article about relaxation (vs. Mlowstress = 2.00, SDlowstress = 1.18).

Furthermore, the first regression analysis, using the stress manipulation check as criterion, and the stress

measurements, LHS and its interaction and predictors, indicated a significant impact of the stressor (β =

2.14, SE = 0.28, t(95) = 7.53, p < .001, all coefficients unstandardized) while both the impact of LHS (β

= -0.49, SE = 0.52, t(95) = -0.94, n.s.) and the interaction effect (β = 0.54, SE = 0.74, t(95) = 0.73, n.s.)

were non-significant. Therefore, the manipulation of stress was successful while making sure that LHS

had not influenced the amount of experienced stress.

Moreover, the second regression analysis, using the stress manipulation check as criterion, and

the stress measurements, self-esteem and its interaction and predictors, also indicated a significant impact

of the stressor (β = 4.30, SE = 1.52, t(95) = 2.83, p = 0.01, all coefficients unstandardized). However, the

impact of self-esteem did also indicate a significant effect (β = 0.97, SE = 0.35, t(95) = 2.80, p = 0.01).

This means, according to the output, that a higher self-esteem will lead to higher feelings of stress. The

interaction effect however, was non-significant (β = -0.65, SE = 0.43, t(95) = -1.52, n.s.). Therefore, for

this analysis, the manipulation of stress was successful. Although, the presence of self-esteem could have

influenced the amount of experienced stress according to the output.

For the replication part, the hypothesis that stress will boost the desire for hedonic food

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multiple regression analysis with the proportion (of total spending) spend on hedonic food products as

criterion and stress (low vs. high, effects coded), LHS and their interaction as predictors (exhibit 11). The

results of this analysis showed, that the interaction effect between stress and LHS on the desire to engage

in hedonic food consumption was insignificant (β = 0.04, SE = 0.03, t(95) = 1.36, n.s.). Moreover, all

other effects were insignificant as well. Even after reanalyzing the data including participant’s current

socio-economic status (SES) as a covariate , all results remained insignificant. This unfortunately means

that the hypothesis that, stress will boost the desire for hedonic food consumption among people with a

fast LHS but not for people with a slow LHS, cannot be confirmed.

Furthermore, for the extension part, the hypothesis that self-esteem will negatively moderate the

relationship between stress and the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption, was tested using a

multiple regression analysis. With the proportion (of total spending) spend on hedonic food products as

criterion and stress ( low vs. high, effects coded), self-esteem and their interaction as predictors (exhibit

12). The results of this analysis showed, that the interaction effect between stress and self-esteem on the

desire to engage in hedonic food consumption was insignificant (β = -0.01, SE = 0.02, t(95) = -0.76, n.s.).

Furthermore, all other effects were insignificant as well. This unfortunately means that the hypothesis

that, self-esteem will negatively moderate the relationship between stress and the desire to engage in

hedonic food consumption, cannot be confirmed.

To summarize, although the manipulation of stress was successful in both analyses, the analysis

which replicated the study of Fennis et al. (unpublished manuscript) could not confirm that, individual

differences in life history strategies can have a significant impact on the relationship between stress and

the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption. Furthermore, the findings from the second analysis

show no evidence that the degree of self-esteem a person has, can influence the relationship between stress

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4. Discussion

This paper was set out to research two things. Firstly, to replicate the study of Fennis et al. (Unpublished manuscript) and try to confirm their hypothesis – that LHS will moderate the relationship

between stress and the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption in such a way that it will boost the

relationship for people with a fast LHS and that the relationship will be attenuated for people with a slow

LHS. – And secondly, to examine what role self-esteem can play in the relationship between stress and

the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption, and therefore, try to confirm the hypothesis that –

self-esteem will moderate the relationship between stress and the desire to engage in hedonic food

consumption, in such a way that the relationship will be stronger for people with a lower self-esteem.

In order to test both hypotheses, an experiment was conducted using a convenient sample among

friends and family. Participants were randomly assigned to either a low- or high-stress condition by using

different articles in order to manipulate stress. Furthermore, the participants needed to answers a number

of questions concerning LHS and self-esteem. The data from the experiment was used to conduct two

analyses in order to test both hypotheses.

Although the stress manipulation was significant in both analyses, unfortunately there were no

significant results to indicate a moderating effect of neither LHS nor self-esteem. Therefore, both

hypotheses could not be confirmed.

Concerning the analysis testing the moderating effect of LHS, it is definitely surprising to find

different results than Fennis et al. (unpublished manuscript), since the experiment was almost identical to

the one that they used in their paper.

Furthermore, the results from the second analysis, concerning self-esteem, are also not as

expected. Due to the fact that existing research already has proven there to be a moderating role of

self-esteem on relationships between stress and several different dependent variables (Eisenbarth, 2012)

(Shrout & Weigel, 2020), it is very disappointing that the present research did not show the same results.

Moreover, even more surprising is, that in the current research, no direct link between self-esteem and

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direct effect between self-esteem and disordered eating (Teixeire et al., 2016) (Shea & Pritchard, 2007).

This could mean that the moderating role of Self-Esteem might not be as generalizable as was expected

beforehand.

In contrast, if the hypothesis – self-esteem will negatively moderate the relationship between stress and

the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption – would have been confirmed, this could have had some

interesting effects on society.

Firstly, understanding how self-esteem can influence a person’s eating behavior could be a very

helpful tool in guiding people towards a healthier way of eating. Especially in places where people are

exposed to high amounts of stress on a regular basis, it could be helpful to limit the amount of hedonic

food products available, and simultaneously take action to increase people’s self-esteem. An example of this could be to substitute unhealthy snacks in vending machines, at school or offices, with more healthier

snacks like fruit and nuts. Furthermore could schools and employers implement courses, focused on

boosting self-esteem, on a regular basis. However, because the results of this study are insignificant, it

might be the case that esteem in not as generalizable as was expected. This could mean that

self-esteem has no effect at all when it comes to eating under stress. Therefore, boosting someone’s self-self-esteem

will very likely not be the solution to the problem of obesity. Perhaps future research could examine other

possible moderators on the relationship between stress and hedonic food consumption in order to fight the

growing problem of obesity.

Next to the possible benefits for society that could have resulted from a significant finding,

knowing which factors influence the consumption of hedonic food products could also be very interesting

to marketing managers in charge of promoting such products. As harsh as it sounds, marketing managers

could exploit people with a lower self-esteem and directly target these people concerning these hedonic

food products. By identifying which (potential) customers have a high- or a low self-esteem, a company

can more effectively direct certain advertisements to specific people. For instance, knowing that every

person, in every given week, will experience some form of stress, a marketing manager of a Lays might

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could advertise the more healthy “low fat” variant to people with a higher self-esteem. If the moderating

effect of self-esteem on the desire to engage in hedonic food consumption had been proven, this would

be an interesting opportunity for companies to save a substantial amount of money concerning their

marketing expenses. However, as mentioned before, this is not the case. Because the results also did not

find a significant direct effect of stress on hedonic food consumption in neither of the analyses, it could

be the case that also this relationship is not as generalizable as was previously expected. If this were to be

true, this could effect the way marketing managers target certain customers. For instance, if a company

targets a business man/woman with advertisements promoting hedonic foods, because they believe

business people are often stressed, this money could go to waste if a stressful person does not actually

purchase more hedonic food products.

However, even though both hypotheses could not be confirmed, there are some limitations to the

experiment which might be able to explain why this was the case.

The first, and possibly the most important implication, is that the experiment had to be done in an

online environment rather than a real-life setting. The reason for this has to do with the COVID-19

pandemic which we are currently experiencing. The main benefit of doing a field experiment over an

online experiment, is that it is easier to control the environment and steer people in a certain direction.

For instance, although the stress manipulation was successful according to the output, it is hard to

determine if the participants actually experienced a certain amount of stress, or that they believed it was

the right answer to give after they read an article indicating a certain stress level. Next to that, it is possible

that people already felt stressed before participating in the experiment due to external factors.

Furthermore, the measure of the dependent variable – desire the engage in the consumption of

hedonic food products – is not very liable, because a lot of participants might fill in an amount of money

of which they believe a specific product will costs in their grocery store, instead of indicating how much

they are willing to spend on that product on that specific moment.

Finally, the length and difficulty of the experiment was an issue to a lot of participants. This made

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influenced the outcome because people might have misread certain parts of the experiment due to the

difficulty, or they might have given random answers to certain question in order to speed up the process.

Future research might try to replicate this study by taking into account the before mentioned

limitations. A way of doing this, could be to choose a more tangible stress manipulation (for instance, a

time pressured task vs. the same task with no time pressure) to make sure that people are actually feeling

stressful. Furthermore, a direct choice between a healthy- (e.g. an apple) and a hedonic snack (e.g. small

bag of potato chips) could be offered to a participant right after the stress manipulation. This way the

participant makes a subconscious choice which snack to choose, instead of consciously thinking about

prices. Finally, future researchers could offer a small reward to participants, to make sure they are

motivated and willing to participate.

Although the results from this paper are disappointing and not what I had hoped for, I remain

confident in my hypothesis and do believe, when taking into account the current limitations, future

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5. References

Blascovich, J., & Tomaka, J. (1991). Measures of self-esteem. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S.

Wrightsman, Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 115-160). San Diego:

Acedemic press inc.

Boltong, A., & Keast, R. (2012). The influence of chemotherapy on taste perception and food hedonics: A

systematic review. Cancer treatment reviews, 152-163.

Eisenbarth, C. (2012). Does self-esteem moderate the relationships among perceived stress, coping, and

depression. College Student Journal, 149-157.

Fennis, B. M. (Unpublished manuscript). Myopic Effects of Stress On Nudge Effectiveness.

Fennis, B., Gineikiene, J., Barauskaite, D., & van Koningsbrugge, G. M. (Unpublished manuscript). Personality

and Individual Differences, Acute Stress Can Boost or Buffer Hedonic Consumption The Role of

Individual Differences in Consumer Life History Strategies.

Figueredo Aurelio José, Garcia, R. A., Menke, J. M., Jacobs, W. J., Gladden, P. R., Bianchi, J. M., … Li, N. P.

(2017). The k-sf-42 : a new short form of the arizona life history battery. Evolutionary Psychology, 15(1).

Griskevicius, V., Delton, A. W., Robertson, T. E., & Tybur, J. M. (2011). Environmental contingency in life history strategies: the influence of mortality and socioeconomic status on reproductive timing. Journal of personality and social psychology, 100(2),

241–254.

Hsu, T., & Raposa, E. B. (2020). Effects of stress on eating behaviours in adolescents: a daily diary investigation.

Psychology & Health, 236-251.

Kissebah, A. H., Freedman, D. S., & Peiris, A. N. (1989). Health Risks of Obesity. Medical Clinics of North

America, 111-138.

Laran, J., & Salerno, A. (2012). Life-History Strategy, Food choice, and Caloric Consumption. Psychological

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Porte, G. (2012). Replication research in applied linguistics. New York: Cambridge university press.

Rosenberg, M. (2006). Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). In J. Ciarrochi, & L. Bilich, Acceptance and

Commitment Therapy, Measures Package, Process measures of potential relevance (pp. 61-62). University

of Wollongong.

Shea, M. E., & Pritchard, M. (2007). Is Self-Esteem the Primary Predictor of Disordered Eating? Psychological

Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations, 1-13.

Shrout, R. M., & Weigel, D. J. (2020). Coping with infidelity: The moderating role of self-esteem. Personality

and individual differences.

Starcke, K., & Brand, M. (2016). Effects of stress on decisions under uncertainty: A meta-analysis. Psychollogical

bulletin, 909-933.

Teixeire, M. D., Pereira, A. T., Marques, M. V., Saraiva, J. M., & de Macedo, A. F. (2016). Eating behaviors,

body image, perfectionism, and self-esteem in a sample of Portuguese girls. Revista Brasileira de

Psiquiatria, 135-140.

WHO. (2021). World Health Organization. Opgehaald van Euro.who.int:

https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-

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6. Appendix

Exhibit 1. Introduction/ Cover story

Dear participant,

Welcome to a short survey (10-15 minutes) composed of two parts.

My name is Marc Leenstra and I am a Marketing Management student at the University of Groningen. In order to fulfill my masters degree I am interested in two different topics; Human Cognition and Spending Behavior. • The first study is about people’s reading behavior and consequences.

• The second study is about purchase behavior, in which a specific scenario will be given.

Your participation in this study will remain confidential and there will be no attempt to link your responses and your identity. Also, your participation in this study is entirely voluntary, and you may withdraw at any time by closing the survey platform.

If you have questions about this research, you can send an email message to m.leenstra@student.rug.nl

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Exhibit 2. Manipulation of stress

Q1. High and Low Stress conditions

This survey contains multiple parts and the first part of the survey is related with understanding how people

read articles, what they are feeling and thinking about when reading.

You will read a recent article which appeared in a Sunday section of The Guardian. This article is selected because it has an ideal length for studies on reading. Please read the article very carefully and take your time

to visualize the material as vividly as possible. After reading, you will be asked a few questions.

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High Stress condition

Tough Times Ahead: The New Economics of the 21st_Century

By ALISON JAMESTON, Senior Writer --The Guardian

Five months ago Jonathan Pierce had a stable, well-paying job. Having earned a college degree, Jon was doing well at age 25. He even believed he was about to be promoted. Today, however, Jon is yet again standing in the dreary unemployment line downtown. “I didn’t think this could happen to me,” he mutters while shaking his head. “I have a college degree and I can’t even get a job interview, let alone a job. I’m facing foreclosure on my house, and I just don’t know where the money is going to come from.”

This depressing scene is not unique. If you thought the world had recovered from its latest recession and the economy is stable and growing, think again. Recent reports show that dark clouds are gathering on the horizon fast and a sharp economic downturn is imminent, fuelled by the raging global trade war between the US, China and Europe, the Brexit, the immigration crisis in Europe and the continuing instability in the Middle East. Indeed, over the past year, unemployment lines have grown sharply again, both in the US as well as the EU. “The early numbers are staggering,” notes Oliver Windsor, the head of the EU Economic Commission. And it’s not just blue-collar jobs like construction and food service that are being cut. It’s also white-collar jobs like management and office work that are being hit. Job security appears to be a thing of the past, with more and more people losing their jobs almost overnight and being faced with the daily struggle of how to pay the bills, and make ends meet. According to Windsor, “the best-case scenario looks like the recession will return again. The worst-case scenario is a depression similar to that in the 1930s.” Unfortunately, there is little more the government can do to remedy the situation. As every economist knows, changing the interest rates might slow the bleeding, but it can’t fix the underlying structural problems.

The impending economic crisis is only the beginning of a new reality faced by all of us. After decades of economic growth, experts agree that the U.S. and Europe are on the verge of an economic shift. “The economy of the 21st century is fundamentally different from that in the past,” explains Dr. Patricia Wharton, chair of the panel for EU Economic Stability. “The sad truth is that this generation is certain to be the first generation to do worse than their parents—and their children will likely be even worse off. The American Dream – as we know it – will no longer exist for our children and the same applies to European citizens. Rising oil prices, a housing bubble, skyrocketing energy prices, and a massive trade deficit only begin to scratch the surface of our

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The fact that young adults should expect to have little economic advancement is only part of the imminent economic disaster. Skyrocketing worldwide population growth and scarcity of natural resources are both working together to transform the economy. To understand how these factors are changing life for all of us, Oliver Windsor, one of 80 leading scientists who contributed to the government report, reminds us of the basics: “There are literally billions of people out there competing with each other. And these people are not just competing for jobs. The truth is that they’re competing for food, water, and air.”

The underlying fact is that our planet simply cannot support tens of billions of people. While it may be difficult for some to even imagine that one might one day live in poverty, the world in the 21st century is so highly inter-connected that for many this reality is literally around the corner. Things that happen in China, India, and Africa have tremendous consequences for what happens in the rest of the world. And as necessities like safe food, drinkable water, and breathable air become scarcer and expensive, the world as we know it will become a very different place.

Watching Jonathan Pierce wait in the unemployment line downtown, one can’t help but be reminded of the Great Depression—a time in history that most people only remember from their history classes. The images of the Depression are difficult to erase: Malnourished children begging for food, people standing in line for days just to get a slice of bread and a cup of soup, everyone struggling to feed themselves and their families. The sad truth for people like Jonathan Pierce and countless others is that losing a job is only the beginning. Tough times are ahead.

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Low Stress condition:

Peaceful Meadow Relaxation

By ALISON JAMESTON, Senior Writer --The Guardian

Present day living is full of hassles, chores and stressors. Yet, modern science has identified ways to overcome the burden of modern life, and regain a sense of calm relaxation that fosters balance and peace of mind.

Research has shown that regular relaxation training delivers these benefits and so aids in promoting health and wellbeing. It allows you to take mental vacation to reduce stress and experience full body relaxation. The good news is that it does so immediately: there is no need for weeks of meditation to observe the calm and soothing effects, you will notice them immediately upon the first try-out. This is how it works:

“Take a moment to relax your body. Get comfortable. Notice how your body feels, and make some slight adjustments to increase your comfort. Take a deep breath in. Hold it… and breathe out, releasing tension. Breathe in again, and as you exhale, allow your body to relax slightly. Continue to breathe slowly…deeply. As you visualize the following scene, let your body and mind become more and more relaxed with each moment.

Imagine yourself walking outdoors. You are walking through the trees...small aspens, their leaves moving in a slight breeze. The sun shines down warmly. You walk toward a clearing in the trees. As you come closer to the clearing, you see that it is a meadow. You walk out of the trees, into the meadow. Tall green grass blows gently... You are probably feeling a bit tired...It would be so nice to sit down in the grass.

Walk further into the meadow now...looking around... Imagine the meadow in your mind’s eye...what does the meadow look like? Find a place to sit. You might want to sit or lie down in the grass…perhaps you have a blanket with you that you can unroll over the soft grass and lie down. Feel the breeze caress your skin as you sit or lie down in the sun. It is a pleasant day…warm, but not hot…quiet and peaceful. Notice the sights around you. The grass, whispering…see the mix of meadow grasses, clover, wildflowers around you. Watch a small ladybug climb a blade of grass. Climbing up toward the top, pausing for a moment, and then flying away.

Imagine closing your eyes and listening to the sounds of the meadow. Hear birds singing…the breeze rustling the grass softly… Feel the sun on your face. Imagine turning your face up toward the sky, eyes closed,

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enjoying the warmth of the sun. Smell the grass…the wildflowers…the smell of the sun on the earth… Look around again to see the sights around you. Notice how the ground follows gentle contours of hills. See the blue sky above you…a few wispy clouds drifting slowly by.

See the trees at the edge of the meadow….The meadow is lush and green, a haven for birds and animals. As you watch, a deer peers out through the trees, and emerges to graze at the edge of the meadow. The deer raises its head to look at you, sniffing the breeze, and then turns, disappearing silently into the trees. Rest and

luxuriate in this peaceful, beautiful meadow…. Notice the sights, sounds, and smells around you…. Feel the soft grass beneath you, the sun and breeze on your skin. Imagine all the details of this place.

Now it is time to leave the meadow and return to the present. Notice your surroundings. Feel the surface beneath you. Hear the sounds around you. Open your eyes to look around, re-orienting to the present. Take a moment to stretch your muscles and allow your body to reawaken. When you are ready, return to your usual activities, keeping with you a feeling of peace and calm.”

You can start with short relaxation sessions and with more experience, achieving relaxation will become easier and you will be able to relax for longer periods of time. Some people prefer to relax right before bed to help fall asleep. Others relax first thing in the morning to start the day refreshed and revitalized. Consider if there are times in the day when your energy is high or low. These can be ideal times to schedule in a brief relaxation session.

How do you feel after reading this article? Please describe your thoughts and feelings in 4-6 sentences. It’s very important that you’d write as detailed as possible.

_________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

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Exhibit 3. Purchase behavior

Welcome to the second part of this study.

This part is about spending behavior in a grocery store. You will now be given a short scenario.

In your regular visit to the supermarket you encounter different product on the shelves.

Please indicate for each of the following products what you would be willing to spend on each of them.

€ Bread € Milk € Crackers € Cookies € Lemon € Broccoli € Oat Flakes € Salad € Onions € Ginger € Radish € Detergent € Ice Cream € Potatoes € Chewing gum € Eggs € Avocados € Biscuits € Blueberries € Yogurt € Toilet Paper € Chocolate € Nuts € Cereals € Chips € Sweets € Apples

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Exhibit 4. Stress measure (Acar-Burkay, et al. 2014)

Back to the news story .. Please use the scale below to tell us how you experienced reading the story

Strongly disagree Disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Agree Strongly agree DIFFICULT        STRESSFUL        EASY        FUN        DEMANDING        ENJOYABLE        Exhibit 5. LHS measure K-SF-42: scale for LHS:

Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements. Use the scale below and write your answers in the spaces provided. For any item that does not apply to you, please enter “0.”

Disagree Strongly Disagree Somewhat Disagree Slightly Don’t Know/Not Applicable Agree Slightly Agree Somewhat Agree Strongly

–3 –2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3

1. When faced with a bad situation, I do what I can to change it for the better 2. When I encounter problems, I don’t give up until I solve them.

3. I find I usually learn something meaningful from a difficult situation.

4. When I am faced with a bad situation, it helps to find a different way of looking at things.

5. Even when everything seems to be going wrong, I can usually find a bright side to the situation. 6. I can find something positive even in the worst situations.

7. I spend a great deal of time per month giving informal emotional support to my blood relatives. 8. I contribute a great deal to the welfare and well-being of my blood relatives in the present.

9. I spend a great deal of time per month giving informal emotional support to casual acquaintances (such as neighbors or people at church).

10. I contribute a great deal to the welfare and well-being of my friends these days.

11. I spend a great deal of time per month doing formal volunteer work at school or other youth-related institution.

12. I often contribute to any other organizations, causes, or charities (including donations made through monthly payroll deductions). 13. I’m a very religious person.

14. Religion is important in my life. 15. Spirituality is important in my life.

16. I closely identify with being a member of my religious group. 17. I frequently attend religious or spiritual services.

18. When I have decisions to make in my daily life, I often ask myself what my religious or spiritual beliefs suggest I should do. 19. I worry that romantic partners won’t care about me as much as I care about them.

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20. I don’t feel comfortable opening up to romantic partners. 21. I want to get close to my partner, but I keep pulling back.

22. I often want to merge completely with romantic partners, and this sometimes scares them away. 23. I am nervous when partners get too close to me.

24 I find that my partner(s) don’t want to get as close as I would like.

The following are some questions about means of help that people offer each other. Use the scale below and write your answers in the spaces provided, indicating about how often any parent, family member, or friend has helped you in each of the following ways. For any item that does not apply to you, please enter “0.”

Not At All A Little Some A Lot

0 1 2 3

While you were growing up…

25. How much time and attention did your biological mother give you when you needed it?

26. How much effort did your biological mother put into watching over you and making sure you had a good upbringing? 27. How much did your biological mother teach you about life?

28. How much love and affection did your biological father give you while you were growing up?? 29. How much time and attention did your biological father give you when you needed it?

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During the last month…

31. How much have your relatives helped you get worries off your mind?

32. How much have your relatives told you that you had done something well?

33. How much have your relatives told you that they liked the way you are?

34. How much have your relatives shown you affection?

35. How much have your relatives listened to you when you talked about your feelings?

36. How much have your relatives shown interest and concern for your well-being?

37. How much have your friends helped you get worries off your mind?

38. How much have your friends told you that you had done something well?

39. How much have your friends told you that they liked the way you are?

40. How much have your friends shown you affection?

41. How much have your friends offered to take you somewhere?

42. How much have your friends shown interest and concern for your well-being?

Exhibit 6. Self-esteem measure (Rosenberg, 2006)

Please record the appropriate answer for each item, depending on whether you Strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with it.

1 = Strongly agree 2 = Agree

3 = Disagree

4 = Strongly disagree

_____ 1. On the whole, I am satisfied with myself. _____ 2. At times I think I am no good at all.

_____ 3. I feel that I have a number of good qualities. _____ 4. I am able to do things as well as most other people. _____ 5. I feel 1do not have much to be proud of.

_____ 6. I certainly feel useless at times. _____ 7. I feel that I'm a person of worth.

_____ 8. I wish I could have more respect for myself. _____ 9. All in all, I am inclined to think that I am a failure.

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Exhibit 7. Socioeconomic status (Griskevicius et al. 2011)

Please indicate the extent of agreement with the following statements, ranging from 1 to 9, whereas 1= Totally Disagree and 9= Totally Agree

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Exhibit 8. Demographic questions.

You are at the end of the questionnaire. Please finalize answering some demographic questions.

What is your gender? Male Female Other

What is your age?

Currently I am….

 Studying

 Working

 Looking for a job

 Not applicable

What is your nationality?

 Dutch

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Exhibit 9. Debriefing section

THANK YOU!

This is the end of the questionnaire.

Thank you for taking your time to complete all questions.

If you are interested in the results of the study, please fill in your e-mail address. Your information will be kept confidential and will only be used to keep you updated about

the final results of the research.

E-mail Address:………

Exhibit 10. E-mail send to participants

Dear participant,

A little time ago, you have participated in an experiment concerning my Master thesis.

In the survey, you indicated that you were interested in the results of the study and that you

would like to receive an e-mail explaining more about the study and its results.

The main goal of the research was to examine the relationship between stress and the

desire to engage in the consumption of hedonic food products, and the way that Life History

Strategies and Self-Esteem can influence this relationship.

I will begin by explaining the beforementioned concepts. Firstly, a hedonic food

product, is a product which is high in calories and is consumed for someone’s pleasure. Secondly, Life History Strategies come from Life History Theory, which states that every

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easier to understand, I will explain it as follows: If a person has a fast LHS, that person is more

focused on current gains despite the possible loss of future gains. In contrary, a person with a

slow LHS is more focused on the future, and chooses a higher gain in the future over a lesser

gain right now. And finally, self-esteem is described as how much someone values themselves.

For my research, I have come up with the following two hypotheses that I tried to

confirm by conducting the experiment:

1. LHS will moderate the relationship between stress and the desire to engage in

hedonic food consumption, in such a way that it will boost the relationship for people

with a fast LHS, and for people with a slow LHS this relationship will be attenuated.

2. Self-esteem will negatively moderate the relationship between stress and the desire

to engage in hedonic food consumption, meaning that, the effect of stress on the

desire to engage in hedonic food consumption, is stronger for people with a lower

self-esteem and weaker for people with a higher self-esteem.

In order to test the hypotheses I assigned each participant to read an article that was either

stressful (an article about the economic crisis and COVID-19) or not stressful (an article

about relaxation).

After this, each participant had to answer questions concerning how stressful the

article made them feel. This was done in order to measure whether or not the participant was

actually feeling stressed. Furthermore were the participants asked to indicate how much

money they were willing to spend on each product on a list of 27 products. The reason for

this was to measure how much money each participant would be willing to spend on hedonic

foods products, in order to measure my dependent variable – the desire to engage in the

consumption of hedonic food products. The remaining questions were there to measure the

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about participants socio-economic status and some demographics like gender, age,

occupation and nationality.

Unfortunately, the results from my research were not significant, meaning that the

above hypotheses could not be confirmed.

I hope that I have provided you with enough information this way. Feel free to send me an

e-mail if you have any remaining questions.

I would like to thank you again for participating in my experiment. You have helped me a

lot!

Kind regards,

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Running head: ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FOOD-RELATED DECISION MAKING

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Conceptual model