The Best Way To Buy Groceries

How to keep your haul healthy

March 8, 2013
grocery shopping


When given the option to eat either a healthy fruit snack or a chocolate square, people who wore heavy backpacks on their shoulders chose the fruit 78% of the time, while just 48% of those carrying lighter loads made the more nutritious choice.


It turns out that carrying something heavy actually increases your feelings of guilt, explains study coauthor Maryam Kouchaki, PhD. Why? Across cultures and languages, guilt is almost universally associated with feelings of heaviness, Kouchaki says. Think of common expressions like “shouldering guilt” or “this is weighing on me.”

“When individuals feel weighed down, there’s overlap between that physical sensation and the emotional experience of guilt,” Kouchaki says. And because of that overlap, carrying excess weight causes you to make less guilt-inducing choices.


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