Abstract
Recent research suggests that obesity is linked to prominent alterations in learning and decision-making. This general difference may also underlie the preference for immediately consumable, highly palatable but unhealthy and high-calorie foods. Such poor food-related inter-temporal decision-making can explain weight gain; however, it is not yet clear whether this deficit can be generalized to other domains of inter-temporal decision-making, for example financial decisions. Further, little is known about the stability of decision-making behavior in obesity, especially in the presence of rewarding cues. To answer these questions, obese and lean participants (n = 52) completed two sessions of a novel priming paradigm including a computerized monetary delay discounting task. In the first session, general differences between groups in financial delay discounting were measured. In the second session, we tested the general stability of discount rates. Additionally, participants were primed by affective visual cues of different contextual categories before making financial decisions. We found that the obese group showed stronger discounting of future monetary rewards than the lean group, but groups did not differ in their general stability between sessions nor in their sensitivity toward changes in reward magnitude. In the obese group, a fast decrease of subjective value over time was directly related to a higher tendency for opportunistic eating. Obese in contrast to lean people were primed by the affective cues, showing a sex-specific pattern of priming direction. Our findings demonstrate that environments rich of cues, aiming at inducing unhealthy consumer decisions, can be highly detrimental for obese people. It also underscores that obesity is not merely a medical condition but has a strong cognitive component, meaning that current dietary and medical treatment strategies may fall too short.
Highlights
Obesity is associated with a positive energy balance: Energy intake exceeds energy expenditure
We found no significant differences between obese and lean participants on scores or sub-scores of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the U-P-P-S impulsivity questionnaire and the BIS/BAS questionnaire
Testing for gender × weight status interactions revealed that women in the lean group had higher BIS scores than men in this group while this interaction proved only trend-significant in the obese group [lean women M (SD) = 20.31(3.88), lean men M (SD) = 17.38 (3.0), t(24) = 2.15, p = 0.04; obese women M (SD) = 19.92 (3.73), obese men M (SD) = 17.08 (4.6), t(24) = 1.74, p = 0.1]
Summary
Obesity is associated with a positive energy balance: Energy intake exceeds energy expenditure In this context, dietary choices seem to be a crucial factor to the development and maintenance of obesity. Subjects with obesity often exhibit a preference for high-calorie food despite having dietary goals to the contrary. Choice behavior of subjects with obesity may be disturbed by internal or external factors such as stress or incidental rewarding cues in the environment. Instability in decision-making preferences is likely to be detrimental, because it might lead to the neglect of long-term dietary and weight maintenance goals and to obesity
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
