‘Emotional changes after eating chocolate were examined in everyday life. Thirty-seven healthy, normal-weight women ate a chocolate bar rated their subjective state 5, 30, 60 and 90 min after eating. Both chocolate and the apple reduced hunger, elevated mood and increased activation, but the effects of the chocolate were stronger. Eating chocolate was also followed by joy and, in some people, by guilt. Guilt responders experienced less intense positive emotions.’
To discover the relationship between chocolate and emotions, I do questionnaires and selected10 participants to complete them. In this report I will put my hypothesis, explain the method, introduce my procedures and analyze the data.
The hypothesis
1. Chocolate could have an effect on emotion.
2. Eating chocolate could reduce stress. After eating it, people would feel relax and happy.
The Sample
I put 30(15 females and 15 males)names on pieces of paper and select 10 of them in a random way. Most of them are Chinese. They are different ages.
The Method
I use survey studies in my research. Survey studies is a kind of method to investigate, and they generally make use of questions or interviews that are given to all the groups of interest. These questionnaires or interviews often measure attitude. In my research, these questions are used to measure people’s attitudes to chocolate and can chocolate have an effect on their emotions. And they are designed to be complete rapidly and easily.
The Procedure
- Questionnaire (6 questions) was made to investigate.
- The participants were told that the aim of the questionnaires was to look at the relationship between chocolate and emotions.
- Ask them if they can accept this questionnaire, and tell them they can withdraw from this questionnaire at any time.
- If they agreed, they were asked 6 questions.
- Every question has 3 options, and I put them in numbers 1, 2 and 3. The third question has two parts which are used for 2 kinds of people. First one is used for people who like chocolate and the other one is for people who do not like chocolate. So for this question, the options are put in 1, 2, 3 or 1’, 2’, and 3’.
Analysis
The result is :
(Questionnaire is put on the appendix. Page 6)
In this research, the correlation coefficient is +0.0563 and this number is closer to +1. It means these two variables do have positive correlation but just a slight positive correlation. In other words, if one variable is large the other one will tend to be large. However, +0.0563 is not very close to +1 and it does not reach half of 1, so it does not mean the more chocolate people have, the happier they will be. The +correlation can prove chocolate can have a slight positive effect on emotion and when people are happy they would like to eat chocolate to share the happiness.
The data in the first three questions proved that most people like chocolate because of its taste, and eat it very often. However there is still 20% of people do not like it and do not eat it very often. By considering the fourth question, half of people think that chocolate could make them feel better when they are sad. It means chocolate does affect emotions, and help people escape bad mood. For the last question, 8 out of 10 agreed that eating chocolate is useful to reduce the stress and make people feel free.
There is a research which was done by Gordon Parkey, (School of psychiatry, University of New South Wales), and they wrote the following result:
‘ Chocolate can provide its own hedonistic reward by satisfying cravings, but when consumed as a comfort eating or emotional eating strategy, is more likely to be associated with prolongation rather than cessation of a dysphonic mood. Any mood benefits of chocolate consumption are ephemeral.’
So it could be a kind of evidence that chocolate could affect emotion. And it indicates that chocolate has a short-time effect on emotion, but it could not last too long.
Summary of analysis:
To sum up, the correlation between chocolate and emotion is positive, but it is not very high. By analyzing the data, chocolate could affect emotion and it may useful to help people to reduce stress and feel free. So the two hypothesizes are correct. However, it has to be admitted that the correlation coefficient is low. So the function of chocolate may be not very efficient for emotion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this report uses the survey studies to investigate the correlation between chocolate and emotion.10 questions were made for 10 participants. The correlation coefficient is not very high, and it means although chocolate can affect emotion, it just would be a slight effect. The data indicates that chocolate can help people to be relax and happy.
However, in this research, the correlation between chocolate and emotion is not very strong. The reasons for the low correlation coefficient are various. Firstly, the number of participants is not enough. It is too small to get the general conclusion. Second reason is most of participants are Chinese. Compared with people in western countries, Chinese are not very fond of eating sweets. It is the cultural difference. The third reason is the design of this questionnaire is a little simple, and questions are not enough to investigate such a huge item.
Appendix:
(1)Do you like chocolate?
1. Yes, I like it very much
2. No, I don’t like it at all
3. Maybe. Not sure
(2). How often you eat it?
1. Almost everyday
2. Once-twice a week, or more
3. Not often
(3.) Why you chose it? (3’).Or why you do not like it?
1. Shape 1’ Fat
2. Taste 2’ No reason
3. Meaning 3’ leads to illness
(4). When you feel sad, do you think chocolate can help you escape the bad emotion?
1. Yes, it helps me a lot
2. No, it is useless
3. Sometimes
(5) When you feel happy, do you think chocolate can help you to enjoy your feeling?
1. Yes, it makes me feel happier
2. No.
3. Maybe, sometimes
(6).Do you think eating chocolate is one of your ways to become relax or it is useful to reduce stress or make you feel free(not nervous)
1. Yes, it is useful
2 No
3. Sometimes
References
-
Banyard, P. and Grayson, A(1996). Introducing Psychological Research P103. Published by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD.
-
Macht, M. and Dettmer, D.(2006) Everyday mood and emotions after eating a chocolate bar
Accessed date: 31/01/08
3. Parkey,.G. (2005) Mood state effects of chocolate
Accessed date: 01/02/08