Matching effects on eating. Individual differences do make a difference!

Dyads composed of unacquainted females (n = 82) watched a cartoon while consuming salty aperitif snacks. The Affective Communication Test was used to measure nonverbal expressiveness. Computing intraclass correlation coefficients, the extent to which participants within dyads matched each other’s food intake was analyzed. Food intake matched highly for dyads with two expressive individuals and moderately for dyads with one expressive participant. For dyads with two unexpressive participants, there was no evidence for matching behavior. Highly expressive people seem to be able to synchronize with others and thereby allow for close matching. This is the first study to show an influence of personality on matching consumption behavior.