Food is usually a staple on date nights.
A new study suggests that, when on a date, men and women process food quite differently.
Men link overeating to impressing a potential partner, according to Tech Times. Researchers at Cornell University reportedly found that men tend to eat significantly more when dining in front of women compared to how much they eat when with men.
“Men tend to overeat to show off," stated Kevin Kniffin, visiting assistant professor at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and lead author of the study.
Over the course of two weeks, about 105 individuals between the ages of 18 to 81 years old were observed by researchers at an Italian buffet. The number of pizza slices and bowls of salad consumed by each individual was recorded.
The gender of the participant’s eating partner or partners were also noted.
Men who were on a date with a woman ate 93 percent more pizza than they did with their male counterparts, according to NBC Chicago. Men reportedly ate 86 percent more salad when on a date with a woman.
The increase in consumption of food reportedly remained the same for people who are health conscious.
Women reportedly ate much less on dates. Many of the female participants also reported feeling rushed throughout the meal with a man.
Kniffin and his colleagues reportedly tested the evolutionary psychology theory called sexual selection throughout the course of the study. This is an understanding that people have a tendency to show off in front of others to either seem more attractive or assert dominance.
“The findings are clear that people should calm down when eating with members of the opposite sex," Kniffin wrote in the full text of the study, published by Springer.
“Men seem to be eating more, and women feel like they overate."
