IN TOUCH WITH YOUR FEELINGS: POWER INCREASES RELIANCE ON BODILY INFORMATION

Bodily feelings guide behavior. The present research examines how power affects reliance on nourishment-associated feeling,;. In Study 1 participants were primed with power or powerlessness and took part in a taste study. Hunger predicted the amount of food eaten by powerful but not by powerless participants. In Study 2 participants were assigned to a powerful or a powerless role and ate appetizing (chocolates) or non-appetizing (radishes) food. Powerful participants ate more appetizing food and less non-appetizing food, when compared to powerless participants. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that power increases reliance on experiential information.