Portions selected to stave off hunger are reduced when food is presented in an ‘unusual’ food-to-mealtime context: An implication for implicit satiety drivers

Research suggests that the role of expected satiety in influencing portion-size selection is reduced when food is presented in unusual food-to-mealtime contexts; however, the underlying mechanism has not been explored. Other research has revealed that different implicit satiety drivers (e.g., to stop momentary hunger or obtain complete fullness) are associated with different perceived levels of stomach fullness, portion-size selections and can change on instruction. The current study explored whether changes in expected satiety and ideal portions in congruous vs incongruous contexts can be explained by changes in implicit satiety drivers. Another aim was to investigate a previous exploratory finding suggesting that portions selected to stave off hunger are reduced when foods are presented in unusual food-to-mealtime contexts. At two trials (breakfast/lunch), participants (n = 40) selected a portion of typical lunch (pasta) and breakfast (porridge) foods via a psychophysical computer-based method 1) to stave off hunger for 5 h, and 2) as an ideal portion. Participants also indicated their perceived level of stomach fullness associated with 1) each portion, and 2) five implicit satiety drivers. Results revealed that a smaller average portion was selected to stave off hunger in incongruous (vs congruous) food-to-mealtime contexts (531 ± 229 vs 575 ± 236 kcal) (p = 0.008). This suggests that expected satiety is influenced by momentary context; foods are perceived to be more satiating when consumed in unusual (vs usual) contexts. Results also showed that implicit satiety drivers are malleable in regard to the portion size associated with a perceived level of stomach fullness and that this can vary contextually. These findings provide initial evidence to explain the psychological mechanism underlying the contextual differences observed in portion-size selections. Future work should explore longer-term impacts of consuming foods in unusual contexts.