Influence of a Monopoly Game on Subtle Behaviors

The scope of work outlined in this proposal will investigate experimentally manipulated social status on acute eating behavior, energy intake, and risk for obesity. This will be accomplished using a randomized, crossover design to place young adults in experimental high and low social status conditions. At visit 1, participants will complete baseline measurements, and then consume a standardized breakfast. In order to control for the influence of stress on eating behavior in both conditions, the participants will participate in the Stroop Test, a test known to induce stress in individuals, following breakfast. Using a computerized randomization scheme, each participant will be randomized to either the low or high social status condition (½ will receive high first; ½ will receive low first) and will receive the packet of rules and instructions for their respective condition. The participants will play Monopoly for up to 2 hours with another player they have not previously met. At the end of the game, the high social status player will be told that they won, and the low social status player will be told that they lost. The participants will participate in the Stroop Test again. Then the investigators will take the players into the Children's Eating Laboratory, where a buffet ad libitum lunch will be served in separate rooms. The participants will have 30 minutes to consume their lunch and plate waste will be measured to assess each participant's dietary intake. There will be a 4-week washout period and the second visit will be exactly like the first, except that they will participate in the alternate social status condition. The investigators will evaluate whether there was within-subject variation in dietary intakes based upon which social status condition they were placed in.