Roseanna's Practice

Introduction In this study, researchers explored the relationship between eating spicy food and having aggressive thoughts. The researchers conducted an experiment in which they predicted that spicy food consumption would cause participants to have more aggressive thoughts when compared with participants who did not eat spicy food. Participants Sixty college students participated in the experiment. The researchers did not provide additional information about the participants’ race or gender identities. Method Participants were randomly assigned to eat either a plain tortilla chip (non-spicy condition) or a tortilla chip with two drops of habanero pepper 1

sauce on it (spicy condition). Participants then rated how spicy the tortilla chip was, how much they liked it, and their general preference for eating spicy foods. These ratings were made on 7-point Likert scales, with higher ratings indicating greater spiciness, greater enjoyment, and greater preference for spicy foods, respectively. Next, the participants completed a word fragment quiz. In the quiz, they were presented with a series of word fragments and were asked to choose one of two provided options to complete the fragment. One of the choices to complete the fragment was associated with aggression while the other choice was not. For example, for the fragment “H_T,” participants could choose “HAT” or “HIT.” Across the series of word fragments, participants received a score of 0 to 10 for the number of aggressive options they chose. Finally, participants were asked to read a brief story about a character whose behavior could be perceived as having aggressive or non-aggressive intentions. They then reported the degree to which they believed the intent of the character’s behavior was aggressive, using a 7-point Likert scale, where higher ratings indicated greater perceived aggression intentions.

Results and Discussion Participants in the spicy condition were more likely to complete word fragments with an aggressive option (mean = 5.58; standard deviation = 1.88) than were participants in the non-spicy condition (mean = 3.75; standard deviation = 1.86). The researchers also found that participants in the spicy condition were more likely to attribute the story character’s behavior to aggressive intentions (mean = 5.45; standard deviation = .86) than were those in the non-spicy condition (mean = 4.71; standard deviation = .98).

All differences reported were statistically significant.

Introduction In this study, researchers examined the relationship between eating spicy foods and engaging in risky behaviors. They predicted that spicy food consumption would lead participants to make more decisions that could be characterized as risky. Participants Fifty-one Chinese college students participated (41% men; 59% women 2

). The participants’ average age was 19.78

years. The researchers did not report any additional race/ethnicity data beyond national origin. Method Participants completed a 35-item survey that measured their likelihood of taking risks in six categories (investment, gambling, health/safety, recreational, social, and ethical decisions). Survey items were rated on 7-point Likert scales, with higher scores indicating greater risk-taking. Participants were then asked to eat a piece of bread. Approximately equal numbers of participants were assigned to eat either a piece of bread with very spicy chili sauce spread on it (spicy condition) or a piece of bread that did not have any spices or noticeable flavor (non-spicy condition). After they ate the bread, participants completed a survey that measured their positive mood (10 items) and negative mood (10 items). Then, they performed a computerized version of a risk-taking task. In this task, participants received a $2,000 loan and were told to make as much money as they could in a card game. In the card game, they were presented with four decks of cards and asked to complete 50 card draws from the decks. Two of the four decks were associated with high rewards but high penalties (high risk), and two were associated with low rewards but low penalties (low risk). The percentage of high-risk decisions was calculated. Results and Discussion The researchers found that being in the spicy or non-spicy condition did not affect participants’ positive or negative moods. Table 1: Means/Standard Deviations of Positive and Negative Mood for Each Condition

Condition

Positive Mood (Mean/Standard Deviation

Negative Mood (Mean/Stanard Deviation) Spicy condition 2.96/0.81 1.75/0.49 Non-spicy condition 2.85/0.71 1.78/0.83

Being in the spicy or non-spicy condition did, however, significantly affect participants’ decisions in the risk-taking task. Those who ate the bread spread with spicy chili sauce were more likely to draw cards from the high reward/high penalties decks than were those who ate the non-spicy bread. Table 2: Means/Standard Deviations of the Risk-Taking for Each Condition

Condition

Drawing from High Reward/High Penalty Decks (Mean/Standard Deviation) Spicy condition 61.60/11.62 Non-spicy condition 52.85/8.51

Introduction In this study, researchers asked if knowing which foods a stranger enjoys changes our perception of that stranger’s personality. For example, do we perceive people who like spicy foods as having different personality characteristics from those who like sour foods? Participants Eighty-five college students participated, most of whom were female (78% female; 22% male 3

). The participants’ average age was 19.51 years. The researchers did not report any additional race/ethnicity data beyond national origin. MethodParticipants were presented with 20 different black-and-white images of people’s faces (10 men’s faces and 10 women’s faces) all with neutral facial expressions. Each participant viewed the same 20 images. The images were presented to participants on a computer screen. Each image was randomly associated with a statement that expressed the person’s preference for sweet, bitter, sour, or spicy foods (e.g., “I like chili pepper”). The statement appeared for just over one second. After the food statement disappeared from the computer display, participants were asked to evaluate how likely the person depicted in the image was to be irritable using a 6-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating greater perceived irritability. Results and Discussion The results showed that irritability attributed to strangers in the images depended on the taste preferences the strangers were associated with. The means and standard deviations for taste preferences attributed to irritability are presented in the table.

Table 1: Means and Standard Deviations of Irritability for Each Taste Preference

Personality Characteristic of Irritability

Taste Preference Mean Standard Deviation

Spicy 3.85 0.86

Sweet 3.17* 0.84

Bitter 3.28* 0.86

Sour 3.37* 0.85

*indicates a statistically significant difference from the mean for the Spicy condition.