A prime a day keeps calories away: The effects of supraliminal priming on food consumption and the moderating role of gender and eating restraint.

The link between intentions and action in weight control is weaker than previously thought, so recent research has called for further investigation of ways to improve weight control that bypass conscious intentions. Priming has been shown to have effects on individual behavior in a variety of contexts by influencing subconscious cognition. This paper investigates the effects of semantic priming using healthy body image, goal-oriented words on food consumption. The moderating role of both restrained eating and gender is investigated. 161 participants were involved in an experiment using a novel version of a scrambled sentence priming game. The outcome measure was the number of kilocalories consumed, examined using a between subjects ANCOVA with priming, gender, restrained eating index, self-reported BMI, and two interaction terms (primingxgender, and primingxrestrained eating index). There was no main effect of priming but there was an interaction of priming with gender. Females consumed significantly fewer kilocalories after being exposed to priming words related to a healthy body image (i.e. "slim", "fit,") compared to females receiving the neutral prime, with a medium effect size (d = 0.58). The body image prime did not significantly affect food intake for males, nor did it have a differential effect on restrained eaters. This study shows that priming can be an effective method for influencing females to reduce food intake, regardless of whether they are restrained or unrestrained eaters. Future studies could investigate whether different priming words related to a male's healthy body image goal (i.e. "buff," "muscles," etc.) would similarly reduce food intake for males.

Ethnic diversity deflates price bubbles.

Markets are central to modern society, so their failures can be devastating. Here, we examine a prominent failure: price bubbles. Bubbles emerge when traders err collectively in pricing, causing misfit between market prices and the true values of assets. The causes of such collective errors remain elusive. We propose that bubbles are affected by ethnic homogeneity in the market and can be thwarted by diversity. In homogenous markets, traders place undue confidence in the decisions of others. Less likely to scrutinize others' decisions, traders are more likely to accept prices that deviate from true values. To test this, we constructed experimental markets in Southeast Asia and North America, where participants traded stocks to earn money. We randomly assigned participants to ethnically homogeneous or diverse markets. We find a marked difference: Across markets and locations, market prices fit true values 58% better in diverse markets. The effect is similar across sites, despite sizeable differences in culture and ethnic composition. Specifically, in homogenous markets, overpricing is higher as traders are more likely to accept speculative prices. Their pricing errors are more correlated than in diverse markets. In addition, when bubbles burst, homogenous markets crash more severely. The findings suggest that price bubbles arise not only from individual errors or financial conditions, but also from the social context of decision making. The evidence may inform public discussion on ethnic diversity: it may be beneficial not only for providing variety in perspectives and skills, but also because diversity facilitates friction that enhances deliberation and upends conformity.