What you eat reveals a lot about your personality

Every choice in life is a reflection of one's personality and this is true even when it comes to food. People who have healthy food habits don't veer off their course. They aren't easily tempted by unhealthy food, a recent study found. In contrast, those who are more inclined towards sugary, unhealthy foods lack self-control and give in to their temptations more easily.

The study, conducted by a group of researchers at the Ohio State University, interviewed 81 people as part of their research. Participants were asked to click a start button and make a choice between two images, one representing a healthy snack and another image containing a picture of an unhealthy food item. Researchers got their results based on where the cursor moved when the images were shown. 

They found that some people hovered their cursor onto the unhealthy food item even though they finally made the decision to choose the healthy snack. However, those who have healthy eating habits didn't delay when they had to make a choice. 

"This mouse-tracking metric could be a powerful new tool to investigate real-time conflict when people have to make decisions related to self-control. This mouse-tracking metric could be a powerful new tool to investigate real-time conflict when people have to make decisions related to self-control," a Deccan Chronicle article quoted Paul Stillman, the co-author of the study, as saying.

He added that some participants were more tempted than the rest and they failed at exercising self-control. Those who chose a candy bar for instance had the least amount of resistance to unhealthy food choices. 

 The study revealed new evidence on how people make decisions when self-control is in the picture. The study will be included in the Journal of Psychological Science.

• food
• food habits
• healthy food habits