Whether you are going for a crucial business deal or salary negotiation for your new job, make sure you do not take major decisions on an empty stomach.
Hunger significantly alters people’s decision-making, making them impatient and more likely to settle for a small reward that arrives sooner than a larger one promised at a later date, said the study.
Participants in an experiment designed by psychology research scientists at Vincent University participants were asked questions relating to food, money and other rewards when satiated and again when they had skipped a meal.
While it was perhaps unsurprising that hungry people were more likely to settle for smaller food incentives that arrived sooner, the researchers found that being hungry actually changes preferences for rewards entirely unrelated to food.
This indicates that a reluctance to defer gratification may carry over into other kinds of decisions, such as financial and interpersonal ones.
This is an aspect of human behaviour which could potentially be exploited, so people need to know their preferences may change when hungry.
FROM AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR DR GOVIND SHUKLA, NUTRITION EXPERT
Govind Shukla, Specializes in Pharmacology, Toxicology, Nutraceuticals & Herbal Drugs has published More than 100 research papers in National & International Journals. He is also a reviewer of International Journal of Pharmacology & pharmacotherapeutics, Chief editor of IJPNR Journal & Freelance Medical Writer for Different publication Groups including Lambert Academic Publishing Saarbrucken, Germany.