TheRedArchive

~ archived since 2018 ~

Why do people order a cheeseburger, fries, dessert and a *Diet* Coke?

Eric Barker
May 12, 2012

 

It’s called a “health halo effect.” As long as we have the feeling we’re doing something healthy, we extend it to everything during that meal.

Due to this, most people surveyed estimated that a cheeseburger with a salad had fewer calories than the cheeseburger alone.

Via The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It:

When we want permission to indulge, weâll take any hint of virtue as a justification to give in.

To see this in action, you donât have to look any further than dinner. Studies show that people who order a main dish advertised as a healthy choice also order more indulgent drinks, side dishes, and desserts. Although their goal is to be healthy, they end up consuming more calories than people who order a regular entrée. Dieting researchers call this a health halo. We feel so good about ordering something healthy, our next indulgence doesnât feel sinful at all. We also see virtuous choices as negating indulgencesâ literally, in some cases. Researchers have found that if you pair a cheeseburger with a green salad, diners estimate that the meal has fewer calories than the same cheeseburger served by itself. This makes no sense, unless you believe that putting lettuce on a plate can magically make calories disappear. (Though judging by what people order at the movies and restaurants, Iâd say many of us believe diet sodas have a similar calorie-negating effect.)

Whatâs really happening is that the salad is clouding the dinersâ judgment. Itâs giving them a feeling that the meal theyâre eating is virtuous. Those lettuce leaves come with a health halo that casts a glow on the burger, making it more likely that they will underestimate the health âcostâ of the meal. Dietersâ who in theory should be the most likely to know the calorie counts of foodsâ were the most susceptible to the halo effect, taking 100 calories off their estimates when a salad was added.

Halo effects pop up all over the place, whenever something indulgent is paired with something more virtuous. For example, studies also show that shoppers who buy chocolate for a charity will reward their good deed by eating more chocolate. The altruistic donation shines its halo glow on the candy bars, and the do-gooders enjoy them, guilt-free. Bargain-hunters who get a good deal may feel so virtuous for saving money that they buy more than they intended, and gift-givers may feel so generous that they decide they, too, deserve a gift. (This may explain why womenâs shoes and clothing make up the largest percentage of early holiday shopping.)

TheRedArchive is an archive of Red Pill content, including various subreddits and blogs. This post has been archived from the blog bakadesuyo.

bakadesuyo archive

Download the post

Want to save the post for offline use on your device? Choose one of the download options below:

Post Information
Title Why do people order a cheeseburger, fries, dessert and a *Diet* Coke?
Author Eric Barker
Date May 12, 2012 7:52 PM UTC (11 years ago)
Blog bakadesuyo
Archive Link https://theredarchive.com/blog/bakadesuyo/why-do-people-order-a-cheeseburger-fries-dessert.13908
https://theredarchive.com/blog/13908
Original Link https://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/07/why-do-people-order-a-cheeseburger-fries-dess-15085/
Red Pill terms in post
You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea.

© TheRedArchive 2024. All rights reserved.
created by /u/dream-hunter