Stressed Spelled Backwards is Desserts": Affective Determinants of Eating Behavior

Abstract

This chapter discusses the relationship between affect and eating behavior from two points of view—how affect shapes eating behavior and how eating behavior generates affect—arguing that appreciating how affect influences eating behavior depends on understanding in what way eating generates affect. It first discusses biological and social-cultural perspectives on the pleasure of eating and posits that the inherently rewarding experience of eating is compromised by concerns about the health consequences of eating too much or by eating the wrong foods. The second part of this chapter explains in what way both negative and positive affect influences consumption and highlights the contrast between theoretical notions on the phenomenon of emotional eating and empirical findings. It elaborates on new avenues for investigating the association between affect and eating, including the role of positive emotions, emotions as justifications for overeating, and eating as a coping strategy for dealing with negative emotions.