Amir Greenstein is a lecturer and researcher in marketing and entrepreneurship at Northeastern University in Boston and VU in Amsterdam. Writing on Twitter about behavioral research .@AmirGrinstein
Jana Schechterman is an organizational consultant, executive coach and teacher at Northeastern University in Boston. yanashechterman.com
Am: Lek: The research summary in four sentences
The research question: How do the nutritional choices of employees affect the evaluations and treatment they receive in the workplace?
The research process: 3 experiments conducted among 69 participants tested stereotypical cognitive biases in relation to food and their consequences for the eaters.
Conclusions: As the choices tended towards healthier food, the appreciation towards the eaters increased, and the degree of desire to help them. Less healthy choices led to a negative attitude.
Some provisions: Managers, note that a climate that supports healthy eating will reduce judgment in the team. Workers, watch your food. Junk is better eaten at home.
Much has been written about the effect of a healthy diet on mental and physical health, illness and fatigue. Past studies have found positive relationships between the consumption of healthy food and productivity at work, and indeed we see that many organizations take care to create an environment that encourages a healthy lifestyle with the employees in mind, their health, energy and productivity, and of course their sick days. Now it turns out that the advantage of encouraging a healthy diet in the workplace is not only all these, but also affects what the employees think about each other.
Our diet at work is a very public thing. 62% of workers in the US eat their lunch in front of the computer or at their desk, others go out to eat together in the cafeteria or dining room and even order food together from an outside supplier. People who spend a lot of time together know each other’s eating habits, and it turns out that these habits have an effect Also about the way the employees are perceived.
It turns out that the employees’ choice of food is seen as an indication of identity, outlook on life and personality. Past research has found that we tend to unconsciously attribute character traits to what people eat. For example, large meat dishes are seen as a stereotype of a masculine trait, while vegetarian dishes are a stereotype of feminine traits. Low-fat dishes are seen as more feminine, as indicative of physical attractiveness and unsociable people. Studies have also found that those who eat large and high-fat portions are perceived more negatively. We look at the dietary choices of our peers and unconsciously judge them.
you are what you eat
A study from last year published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that people who eat healthy food at work are perceived as having high self-control, and as a result will receive a positive attitude from their colleagues, beyond what they receive as a result of their role and performance.
Researchers Watkins, Petal and Antoine (from the universities of West Texas, Suffolk and Washington) found that due to our limited ability as people in the western world full of abundance to avoid foods high in sugar and fat, a difficult choice for most of us, those who make healthier choices and avoid temptations are seen as people who are able to control impulses and urges theirs, and are appreciated for it.
In the first experiment they conducted, the researchers used a test that tests stereotypic cognitive biases. The researchers presented 69 participants with pictures of different foods for lunch, and tested the subjects’ associations about healthier and less healthy options.
Taylor’s lunch
In the second experiment, they presented pictures of the lunch of an employee named Taylor (a name suitable for both genders) who was described as pleasant and sociable and of average height, weight and attractiveness.
Taylor’s lunch varied between the healthy version (a bottle of water, an apple and a vegetable salad) and the unhealthy version (a bottle of fizzy drink, a cookie and a pizza triangle). In both cases, the subjects were asked to evaluate the degree of Taylor’s self-control and rate sayings such as “Taylor is lazy” or “Taylor has a strong iron discipline.” In addition, the level of positive behavior directed at Taylor was tested by rating statements such as “I will help Taylor with tasks” or “I will adjust my schedule to allow Taylor to take a vacation if necessary.”
The analysis of the data in the two experiments found that there is a positive relationship between the healthy version of the lunch and Taylor’s assessment of self-control, and vice versa – the unhealthy version induced a negative bias regarding the level of self-control. The researchers also found a positive relationship between the healthy version of the lunch and a high level of positive behavior towards Taylor.
In the third experiment, the company’s climate was tested, and to what extent it encourages a healthy diet. Past research has found that in a climate that encourages healthy eating, employees will feel social pressure for certain behaviors. The researchers wanted to test the effect of this socio-cultural climate on the employees’ perception of their colleagues. Does the effect found in the two different experiments also occur when there is an organizational climate that encourages healthy eating?
The researchers conducted the study at a large university in the center of the USA and examined the organizational climate among university employees in the various departments with questions such as “Managers in the department think that consuming healthy food is important” or “In this department they make sure that the employees can consume healthy food even between meals.” In addition, the researchers conducted two The first experiments and compared the results between the different departments.
The researchers found that in a department where there is a climate that encourages healthy eating, the effect they found was weakened because the employees attributed the effect to the environment and the social influence and not to the self-control of their colleagues.