
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Once people form an eating habit, they no longer care whether the food tastes good, they'll eat the same amount -- fresh or stale, U.S. researchers say.
Lead author David Neal, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California when the research was conducted and now head of a social and consumer research firm, said the researchers gave people about to enter a movie theater a bucket of either just-popped, fresh popcorn or stale, week-old popcorn.
The study, published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found moviegoers who didn't usually eat popcorn at the movies ate much less stale popcorn than fresh popcorn, but moviegoers who said they typically had popcorn at the movies ate about the same amount of popcorn whether it was fresh or stale.
In other words, for those in the habit of having popcorn at the movies, it made no difference whether the popcorn tasted good or not, Neal says.
"People believe their eating behavior is largely activated by how food tastes. Nobody likes cold, spongy, week-old popcorn," corresponding author Wendy Wood, provost professor of psychology and business at USC, says. "But once we've formed an eating habit, we no longer care whether the food tastes good."
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Additional Health News Stories | |
WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) --
Rolling Thunder motorcyclists moved into Washington as part of the annual Memorial Day weekend ride held in remembrance of war dead and those missing in action.
|
CALABASAS, Calif., May 28 (UPI) --
Pop singer Justin Bieber is being investigated for battery after allegedly hitting a paparazzo who tried to take pictures of him, California authorities said.
|
CHICAGO, May 28 (UPI) --
A group of hikers attempting to remove a curse from the Chicago Cubs by walking with a billy goat said they have walked 1,300 miles to Chicago.
|
To avoid a meltdown in 2006, Ford Motor Co. mortgaged the farm putting up its assets – including its Blue Oval logo, and F-150 pickup and iconic Mustang trademarks – to secure $23.5 billion in credit.
|
| Stories | Photos | People | Comments |
View Caption