Showing off with second helpings: why men eat more when around women

The study, carried out by Cornell University, looked at 105 adults over a two-week period who were dining in an all-you-can-eat Italian buffet restaurant. Researchers noted the number of pizza slices and the number of salad bowls eaten by each of the participants, with pizza recorded as an unhealthy food and salad as a healthy food.

Researchers also recorded the gender of the participants' dining partner or partners. Researchers also asked the diners to answer questions before leaving the restaurant regarding how hurried they felt during eating, how physically comfortable they felt, and how much they think they overate.

Results showed that men who dined in the company of at least one woman ate significantly more of both healthy and unhealthy food than they did when dining with only other men, eating 93% more pizza and 86% more salad. In contrast, the amount eaten by women didn't change at all whether they dined with men or other women, although many women surveyed stated that they felt they had overeaten when in male company. The women also reported that they had felt hurried during the meal when dining with men.

Lead author of the study, Kevin Kniffin, PhD, of Cornell University commented that, "These findings suggest that men tend to overeat to show off -- you can also see this tendency in eating competitions which almost always have mostly male participants."

The full study can be found online here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-015-0035-3/fulltext.html