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 often face self-control dilemmas that force them to choose between an immediate, but small, reward or a more satisfying but longer-term reward. Emotions, stressand the hunger often disrupt logic. But to what extent ?
Researchers from the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at Utrecht University have carried out experimental studies to understand whether or not hunger improves decision-making.
Findings from two experiments revealed that the hungrier 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 did not. They must have played cards on the computer. The hungry have been more successful than the others.
Hunger does not increase risk taking
To understand whether hunger increased risk-taking or not, the researchers subjected 46 volunteers, half of them full bellies, to a risk-taking game.
The results of the experiment proved that hunger is not a trigger for risk taking.
