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Consumed by boredom : Food choice motivation and weight changes during the COVID-19 pandemic
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P. Pekrun, Reinhard Igou, Eric R.
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P.
Pekrun, Reinhard
Igou, Eric R.
Abstract
Boredom is an established cause and correlate of eating behavior. Yet, existing work offers a scattered range of plausible motivations for why this is. We examined among 302 people representative of the adult UK population what motivations they had for selecting food during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this related to boredom. As predicted, bored people choose food less for health reasons and more for convenience. Boredom reduced ethical and ‘natural content’ motivations for selecting food and was not associated with choosing food to regulate one’s mood or to experience unfamiliarity. Boredom was also associated with greater absolute changes in weight over the course of the pandemic. Boredom did not predict weight gains or losses overall. These findings offer insights into the role that boredom plays in eating motivations in particular and health-relevant outcomes in general.
Keywords
boredom, eating motivation, weight, COVID-19, pandemic, health
Date
2022
Type
Journal article
Journal
Behavioral Sciences
Book
Volume
12
Issue
10
Page Range
1-14
Article Number
Article 366
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open