I Just Got Dumped--Pass
the Ice Cream, Please

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study validates why ice cream tastes so good after a breakup, and why that nice jacket in the store window--that you really can't afford--seems like a good buy once you've been dumped.

Dr. Jean M. Twenge of San Diego State University and her colleagues found that people who feel as if they have been rejected by others tend to adopt unhealthy, self-defeating behaviors, such as eating poorly, taking risks and blowing off work to have fun.

Curiously, this tendency seems specific to people who feel socially rejected, the authors write, since those who felt in fear of future bodily harm did not lean toward similar behaviors.

So what is so awful about feeling alone? "The need to belong and have close relationships is a fundamental human motivation," Twenge explained to Reuters Health. "When we feel alone or not connected to other people, that's not a normal state of being," she said, which may cause people to adopt unusual behaviors.

Specifically, Twenge suggested that feeling alone may encourage people to think in the short-term rather than the long-term, choosing momentary pleasures in spite of the long-term risks they can bring. In the wake of a breakup, you don't often hit the gym, go on a diet, and start saving money for the future, she said. Rather, "you're going to sit on the couch, eat ice cream, and try to find a movie that's not romantic."

Twenge and her colleagues discovered the link between feelings of rejection and self-defeatist behaviors through a series of experiments featuring undergraduate students. The experiments compared the behavioral tendencies of students who were told that, based on personality tests, they were either likely to end up alone, be constantly surrounded by friends and loved ones, or live a life full of accidents.

In one set of experiments, the investigators found that people who were told they would be alone were the most likely to opt for a high-risk lottery over one that promised less money but a higher chance of winning. In another experiment, people who expected a solo life were the most likely to lean toward unhealthy behaviors, such as eating unhealthy snacks, reading magazines instead of learning about their health, and opting out of exercise.

The authors also write that, compared with people who thought they would end up surrounded by friends, people told they would live their lives alone spent less time practicing for a test they thought they had to take, opting instead to play video games or read magazines, according to a report in the recent issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Twenge noted that people who expected social rejection may have felt no differently than others, despite their different behaviors. As part of the experiments, she and her team measured participants' moods, and they found that there were no differences between the groups. This result was surprising, Twenge noted, for she and her colleagues had suspected that rejected people might do pleasurable things to try to make themselves feel better.

As to what motivates people to adopt self-defeatist, short-term pleasures after feeling rejected--that question remains unanswered, Twenge said.

"We're still struggling with the 'why' question," she noted.

SOURCE: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2002;83:605-615.

Reference Source 89

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