AUTHOR=Joye Yannick , Bruyneel Sabrina , Fennis Bob M. 

TITLE=Is There a “Gestalt Bias” in Indulgence? Subjectively Constructing Food Units Into Wholes (vs. Parts) Increases Desire to Eat and Actual Consumption

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671299

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671299

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=In the present work we extend research into the unit bias effect and its extension – the portion size effect – by demonstrating the existence of a “Gestalt bias”. Drawing on the tenets of Gestalt psychology, we show that a unit bias effect can be observed for food portions that are composed of identical basic units, but which are subjectively grouped into, or perceived as a Gestalt – a larger whole. In three studies, we find that such subjectively constructed food wholes constitute a new (perceptual) unit that is perceived bigger than the units it is constructed from, thereby prompting increased eating and desire to eat.