Boredom, interoceptive ability, and emotional eating: An experimental study

Abstract

Growing evidence underscores the importance of examining specific emotions to better understand emotional eating. Boredom is one such underexplored emotion, and little is known about individual differences that may increase vulnerability to “bored eating.” Given the relevance of interoception—awareness of internal bodily signals—to other forms of dysregulated eating, the current study investigated whether interoceptive ability moderates the relationship between boredom and food consumption. In a controlled laboratory experiment, 187 participants consumed a water preload and were randomly assigned to a 30-minute boredom or neutral condition. Snack foods (chocolate, crackers, chips) were available ad libitum, and consumption was covertly measured. Interoception was assessed via general interoceptive sensibility, hunger/satiety-specific sensibility, and gastric interoceptive sensitivity using the two-step Water Load Test. Analyses of covariance tested main and interaction effects of condition and interoceptive measures on food consumption. Contrary to hypotheses, neither boredom nor any interoceptive measure predicted total or food-type-specific consumption. Additionally, interoception did not moderate the relationship between boredom and eating. These findings contribute to a growing body of research questioning the predictive validity of self-reported emotional eating and highlight the importance of distinguishing between self-reported tendencies and observable behavior. Future research using ecologically valid, longitudinal methods may help clarify when and for whom boredom contributes to dysregulated eating and whether physiological awareness influences this pathway.