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. 2013 Oct 30;8(10):e78224.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078224. eCollection 2013.

Extraverted children are more biased by bowl sizes than introverts

Koert van Ittersum  1 , Brian Wansink
Affiliations

Extraverted children are more biased by bowl sizes than introverts

Koert van Ittersum et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Extraverted children are hypothesized to be most at risk for over-serving and overeating due to environmental cues--such as the size of dinnerware. A within-subject field study of elementary school students found that extraverted children served themselves 33.1% more cereal in larger bowls (16-oz) than in smaller (12-oz) bowls, whereas introverted children were unaffected by bowl size (+5.6%, ns). However, when children were asked by adults how much cereal they wanted to eat, both extraverted and introverted children requested more cereal when given a large versus small bowl. Insofar as extraverted children appear to be more biased by environmental cues, this pilot study suggests different serving styles are recommended for parents and other caregivers. They should serve extraverts, but allow introverts to serve themselves. Still, since the average child still served 23.2% more when serving themselves than when served by an adult, it might be best for caregivers to do the serving whenever possible--especially for extraverted children.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: Brian Wansink received funding during the analysis stage of “Happier Meals: New Children's Meals Lead to Fewer Purchased Calories” from September 2012 through December 2012. Brian Wansink became a member of the McDonald’s Advisory Council in January 2012. He received royalties from the Bantam Dell book, Mindless Eating. He was part of the Blue Zones Keynote & Panel Project in Los Angeles; gave paid lectures on food psychology research conducted over the past 20 years. PKF Consulting: Brian Wansink acted as paid consultant on a project that PKF conducted for the Department of Defense related to improving overall health of military bases. Unilever: He gave paid lectures on food psychology research conducted over the past 20 years. In regards to the Mindless Products and Mindless Method mentioned in PLOS ONE’s email to the authors, Dr. Wansink is not affiliated with either. Both projects were private ventures based upon Dr. Wansink’s prior studies, but he is not connected to them and receives no royalties or payment.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Extraverted Children Tend to Overserve Themselves.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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