Exploring Stanley Schachter’s Legacy

Lenny R. Vartanian of the University of New South Wales, Jerry M. Suls of the University of Iowa, and Lori Francis of Pennsylvania State University.

 

Psychological scientist Stanley Schachter (1922-1997) is credited with conducting innovative research on eating behavior from the perspective of social psychology. And his externality theory of obesity — which posits that non-physiological external cues has a particularly strong influence on eating in people prone to obesity — continues to shape research on eating behavior.

A May 24 symposium at the 25th APS Annual Convention focused on Schachter’s legacy, addressing the influence of distractions and peer behavior on eating behavior; social relationships and eating behavior from the perspective of network analysis; and people’s curious tendency to deny the well-documented influence that other people’s eating behavior has on them.

 


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