Research
Adherence
Boredom increases the consumption of 'exciting' healthy foods (e.g., cherry tomatoes) as effectively as it increases the consumption of unhealthy foods (e.g., sweets), provided the individual is high in objective self-awareness.
When bored, your brain seeks stimulation. If you are introspective, you might reach for sweets. However, you can satisfy this need by choosing 'exciting' healthy foods (like cherry tomatoes with strong flavor) instead of sweets. The key is the 'excitement' factor, not just the health factor.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Study 3 demonstrated that among people high in objective self-awareness, high (vs. low) boredom increased the consumption of less healthy foods and the consumption of more exciting, healthy foods.
Why this rating
Supported by behavioral measurement in Study 3.
Source
Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self
Andrew B. Moynihan et al. · Frontiers in Psychology · 2015
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369
unknown · n=156Cited 402×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- State boredom increases energy intake (calories, fat, carbohydrates, and protein) in a dose-dependent manner, independent of other negative emotions.Good
- High objective self-awareness moderates the relationship between boredom and unhealthy snacking, making high-self-awareness individuals more susceptible to choosing less healthy, exciting foods when bored.Good
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