对减肥心切的女性而言，或许不仅要选择进食内容，还要选择同桌的“饭友”。荷兰研究人员发现，女性进食时容易模仿“饭友”的进食步调和过量进食行为。
荷兰奈梅亨大学行为学学院发展精神病理学博士生鲁尔·赫尔曼斯带领研究小组，征募70名中等体重的女学生，让每名学生与一名陌生女演员配对，大家在一个装饰成餐馆的实验室内共同进餐，菜品相同，另加一杯水。研究人员告诉志愿者随意吃喝，然后借助隐藏摄像头观察她们的行为。
研究人员发现，相比以自己的节奏进食，志愿者更容易根据“饭友”的节奏调整进餐步调，见到对方吃一口，5秒内自己也吃一口。这种近乎一致的步调在共同进餐之初更为明显，频率是进餐末期的3倍。
按照研究人员的要求，女演员进食量各自不同，从125克至750克不等。研究人员发现，如果“饭友”过量进食，志愿者也会模仿。
赫尔曼斯在最新一期美国《科学公共图书馆综合卷》发表报告说：“我们发现年轻女性进食量多少之间存在强烈关联。当另一人吃得多，她们也如此，当另一人吃得少，她们也照做。”
他说：“女性根据他人调整自己的进食模式，尤其是在进食之初，当她们希望彼此好好相处、建立积极的社会关系时。”
赫尔曼斯说，这一发现建立在先前研究结果基础上。先前研究显示，女性通过模仿他人来让自己“恰当”进食。不过，目前尚不清楚这是一种显示自己并非被娇惯的有意行为还是一种无意识的行为。赫尔曼斯说，这可能取决于个性。
赫尔曼斯的研究局限于陌生人之间，至于家庭成员、朋友或熟人之间共同进餐时相互模仿情况如何，有待进一步研究。
“如果行为模仿代表讨好对方的意图，我们预计家人之间行为模仿比陌生人之间少一些，”赫尔曼斯说，“这需要在今后的研究中测试。”
研究人员认为，这项结果不仅对节食者有益，也可以帮助希望孩子健康进食的父母和教师。
研究人员说，了解这项结果有助坚持健康的饮食习惯。他们在报告中写道，人们常常与他人共同进食，如果这类进食的重要影响没能深入人心，人们就难以坚持健康的饮食习惯。
Mimicry of Food Intake: The Dynamic Interplay between Eating Companions
Roel C. J. Hermans, Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff, Kirsten E. Bevelander, C. Peter Herman, Junilla K. Larsen, Rutger C. M. E. Engels
Numerous studies have shown that people adjust their intake directly to that of their eating companions; they eat more when others eat more, and less when others inhibit intake. A potential explanation for this modeling effect is that both eating companions' food intake becomes synchronized through processes of behavioral mimicry. No study, however, has tested whether behavioral mimicry can partially account for this modeling effect. To capture behavioral mimicry, real-time observations of dyads of young females having an evening meal were conducted. It was assessed whether mimicry depended on the time of the interaction and on the person who took the bite. A total of 70 young female dyads took part in the study, from which the total number of bites (N = 3,888) was used as unit of analyses. For each dyad, the total number of bites and the exact time at which each person took a bite were coded. Behavioral mimicry was operationalized as a bite taken within a fixed 5-second interval after the other person had taken a bite, whereas non-mimicked bites were defined as bites taken outside the 5-second interval. It was found that both women mimicked each other's eating behavior. They were more likely to take a bite of their meal in congruence with their eating companion rather than eating at their own pace. This behavioral mimicry was found to be more prominent at the beginning than at the end of the interaction. This study suggests that behavioral mimicry may partially account for social modeling of food intake.
文献链接：https://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0031027
