Modeling of food intake: a meta-analytic review

This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive quantitative assessment of research on modeling of food intake. Thirty-eight articles met inclusion criteria. Overall, there was a large modeling effect (r = .39) such that participants ate more when their companion ate more, and ate less when their companion ate less. Furthermore, social models appear to have stronger inhibitory effects than augmenting effects. Moderator analyses indicated that there were larger effects for correlational versus experimental studies, and for women versus men. There was no difference in effect sizes for studies using a live versus remote confederate, or for participants who were high or low in concern with eating appropriately. Together, these findings point to modeling as a robust and powerful influence on food intake.

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