To make important decisions, it would be better to have an empty stomach rather than a full one, according to the results of a study published in the scientific journal PlosOne.
In everyday life, people are often faced with self-control dilemmas that force them to choose between an immediate but small reward or a more satisfying but longer term reward. The emotions, the stressand the hunger often disrupt logic. But to what extent ?
Researchers from the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Utrecht have carried out experimental studies to understand whether or not hunger improves decision-making.
Findings from two experiments revealed that the hungriest participants made the best decisions. Volunteers with empty stomachs were better able to appreciate situations and take the right risks.
For the first study, 30 students fasted from 11 p.m. The next morning, half of them had breakfast, the other half didn’t. They must have played cards on the computer. The hungry ones performed better than the others.
Hunger does not increase risk taking
To understand whether or not hunger increased risk-taking, the researchers submitted 46 volunteers, half of them with full bellies, to a risk-taking game.
The results of the experiment proved that hunger is not a trigger for risk taking.
