It’s that time of year in the Southern Hemisphere when major footballing competitions are coming to their conclusion. Some fans are ecstatic while others are left to console themselves with self-deluding thoughts that next year, despite all evidence to the contrary, will be the year. While the end of season is a heightened experience of this scenario having built to a crescendo, it is a motif that plays out in minor keys throughout the year. People’s emotions rise and fall on a weekly basis in synch with the performance of their team and now a new study has shown that a fan’s food choice also varies with their team’s fortunes.
In the first part of the study the researchers used market research data where American NFL fans kept 14-day food diaries during on two occasions in two separate seasons. They then matched that food data against whether the fan’s team won or lost. These results were then compared to those for fans whose team didn’t play on the Sundays of the food diary period or who were from a city without a team.
The results showed that saturated fat consumption increased by as much as 28 per cent following defeats and decreased by 16 per cent following victories on the Monday following a game. This was a result of defeated fans turning to fatty and junk foods.
Although you might think it, this is not a peculiarly American phenomenon. In another experiment the researchers randomly assigned French adults to write about a victory or a defeat by their favourite team or athlete. Then participants were given a word puzzle and told they could nibble from bowls of potato chips, chocolates, grapes, and cherry tomatoes. While everyone ate roughly the same quantity of food, those who were asked to write about defeats tended toward the fatty foods, while the others made more healthy choices.
The theory goes that this all happens because (if you are a person who identifies with your team) when your team wins your ego is boosted, you have higher self-esteem, and it’s easier to feel strong and good about yourself. People want to see themselves as good and competent, and when events challenge that view people feel their identity has been threatened. It is easier when you feel good about yourself to delay gratification or resist temptation.
So what you can you do to avoid the failure fat frenzy? Fortunately the researchers conducted an experiment that offers a remedy.
In the follow-up experiment the researchers had French adults watch highlight videos from one of three soccer games: a French victory against Italy, a defeat of France by Italy, and a match between two Belgian teams. After they watched the game highlights, half of the participants were asked to rank a list of values (family, religion, the arts, etc) and write at length about their top priority. All subjects were then researchers showed them pictures of the four snacks, asking which they preferred. Those who had watched a defeat and were asked to rank their values tended to choose the healthy foods. Those who watched defeats but did not list their values preferred the unhealthy foods.
Listing what is important to you is known as “self-affirmation†and is meant to focus you on what is really most important to you therefore strengthening your sense of self so you can withstand a perceived insult or indignity.
So if you are feeling a little post-football low, try listing the things that matter most to you. If you can find a few things that matter more to you than a bunch of people you don’t know running around in matching spandex and cotton, then you’ll feel better in no time. If nothing matters to you more than that…there’s not much we can do for you I’m afraid.
