• The present study attempted to evaluate the effects of both the combined and individual effects of stress and images of food on candy consumption in women.
• Many studies have attempted to identify how individuals cope with stressful situations, so that people can better recognize the potentially detrimental consequences of stress, such as overeating and depression. Research has specifically looked at the relationship between stress and food consumption.
• Food-related stimuli are prevalent in society: on billboards, in radio and television advertisements and on the cover of gourmet magazines. Studies have specifically examined the effects of food images in advertisements and food-related stimuli on food consumption and the desire to eat.
• We were searching for the potential impact of stress and exposure to food-related stimuli on food consumption in women, as such would alert women to this pattern, perhaps motivating them to monitor and control their stress, in addition to increasing their awareness of the subtle food-related stimuli in the environment.

  A main effect was anticipated for the stressful condition: individuals in the stressful condition were expected to consume more candy than those placed in the relaxed condition. A main effect was also anticipated in the images of food condition: participants in the condition with photographs of food were expected to consume more candy than those in the condition without pictures of food. A significant interaction was anticipated to occur between stress and images of food; participants placed in a stressful environment with pictures of food were expected to eat the most candy, when compared with those only in a stressful environment, those in a relaxed environment with pictures of food and those in a relaxed environment only, respectively.
 
 

• Independent Variables:
• Environment
• Stressful: timer, stressful questionnaire.
• Relaxed: flowers, tablecloth, rug, comfortable chair, relaxed questionnaire.
• Images of Food:
• Poster of food images [chocolate, pizza, cake] present in room.
• Poster of food images absent.
• Dependent Variable:
• Amount of Candy consumed.

• 92 Mount Holyoke students

• All conditions: Bowl of candy (mini Hershey’s bars, mini Snickers, Sweet Tarts, Smarties): sign in the bowl read "Thank you for your participation. Help yourself!" (No reference to the candy is made throughout the experiment.)
• Condition 1A: Poster with pictures of appetizing foods, stressful cues- stressful questionnaire with unsolvable crossword puzzle, ticking timer
• Condition 1B: Food poster, relaxed cues- relaxed questionnaire with easy crossword puzzle, tablecloth, vase of flowers, comfortable chair, rug
• Condition 2A: Stressful cues, no poster
• Condition 2B: Relaxed cues, no poster
• Procedure
• Participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions before they arrived.
• They were asked to sign the consent form once they arrived.
• The participants each entered into separate rooms (set up with one of the four conditions) with the experimenter and the directions were read.
• Directions for groups 1A and 2A: "The timer will be set for fifteen minutes. You should remain in the room until the timer goes off even if you finish early. Once the timer goes off, turn over the questionnaire and I (the experimenter) will come in the room to collect your questionnaire." The experimenter then set the timer for fifteen minutes and left the room.
• Directions for groups 1B and 2B: "The questionnaire is really easy and it shouldn’t take you more than fifteen minutes to fill out. When you have completed the questionnaire, turn it over on the table and come see me." The experimenter then left the room.
• Once the participants had left the rooms, they were given a debriefing statement.
• The experimenter entered each room and recorded, on the questionnaire, the number of pieces of candy each person took, the number of the participant and the participant’s condition.

• We hypothesized that subjects placed in the stressful condition with exposure to images of food would be more likely to take available candy than those subjects only in the stressful condition, those in the relaxed condition with exposure to images of food, and those only in the relaxed condition, respectively.
• Our hypothesis was not supported.
• There were no significant differences between the levels of our independent variables.
• Our data did not support any previous research.
• In order to support our hypothesis, we could have created a stronger manipulation of stress and relaxation in each condition. We could also have offered a more diverse variety of snack foods, so that all subjects would have found the selection appealing. Furthermore, had we been able to keep the time of day and the amount of food consumed prior to subjects' participation constant, we could have eliminated these potential confounds and obtained significant results.