也许您以前有过这样的经历：工作了一天，压力很大，但到了下午 5:15，您却一头扎进一碗咸味薯片里，喝着几杯甜酸的玛格丽塔酒。（您好，欢乐时光！）或者您醒来时看到早间新闻，充斥着灾难和政治纷争，然后您发现自己正埋头于一堆黄油味和糖浆味的煎饼中。（有人听说过“特朗普十人组”吗？）或者夜深了，截止日期迫在眉睫，您似乎无法完成那个高风险的项目，除非您吃一块湿润的巧克力蛋糕，上面有厚厚的丝滑糖霜，上面是天鹅绒般的冰淇淋，上面滴着粘稠的热巧克力……
（咳咳。）
大量研究已经解释了人类在压力之下暴饮暴食的冲动。从生物学角度来看，压力会触发大脑的反应，让我们感到饥饿，渴望吃脂肪、糖或盐含量高的食物——这些食物会奖励我们的大脑，抚慰我们，暂时缓解我们的压力。当我们不想处理困难的情绪或对自己的身体感到不自在时，我们可能会从食物中寻求安慰或喝太多。当我们疲惫不堪或极度饥饿时，我们也更容易受到压力和渴望的影响。
But what role does personality play in all this? Are some personality types more likely to engage in stress eating than others? To find out, we polled our community, asking them to agree or disagree with the following statement: “You tend to eat or drink more than usual when you are stressed.” A modest majority agreed overall (58%), and the results indicated that our likelihood of stress eating lies mainly in our Energy and our Identity.
Hungry for more? Let’s dig into the results below.
Roles
Diplomats (66% agreeing)
Stress eating is also known as emotional eating, so you might expect to see Diplomats at the top of the results. Their core Feeling trait means that these personality types interpret their experiences, including stressful ones, emotionally. But surprisingly, the Feeling trait proved to be less influential in this survey than other traits that define our Roles, especially the Intuitive trait.
Intuitive personality types were 9% more likely than Observant types to agree with our statement. When it comes to stress eating, types with Intuitive Energy may find themselves in double trouble. With their highly active imaginations, it’s easy for Intuitive types to get carried away thinking about the source of their stress, running various scenarios through their heads until their problems seem even bigger and more overwhelming. At the same time, they’re very good at imagining just how delicious and satisfying a sweet treat would be, fantasizing about it until their craving – and the promise of some relief from stress, however fleeting it may be – becomes too much to resist.
Analysts (60%)
Analysts are also Intuitive personality types, which means that they’re susceptible to the same torments and temptations of the imagination that Diplomats are – but that vulnerability is tempered somewhat by their Thinking trait. Analysts generally approach problems logically, not emotionally, so they may be more likely than Diplomat personalities to search for a tangible solution that will eliminate the source of their stress, rather than reach for a snack or beverage that will make them feel better in the short term.
Explorers and Sentinels (56% and 54%)
Explorers and Sentinels agreed at lower rates primarily because of their shared Observant trait, which helps keep them down to earth and focused on pragmatic solutions in the face of stress. Explorers, as Prospecting personality types, agreed slightly more than Sentinels, their Judging counterparts. Explorers’ more spontaneous natures mean that they’re more likely to act on a whim when they’re stressed out, splurging on something unhealthy for a quick emotional fix. But on the whole, these two Roles responded fairly neutrally to our survey.
Strategies
Social Engagement and Constant Improvement (68% each agreeing)
The fact that respondents belonging to the Social Engagement and Constant Improvement Strategies were tied in their agreement indicates that Extraversion and Introversion have little to do with whether we eat or drink more when we’re stressed out. Indeed, more than any other personality trait, our tendency to engage in stress eating comes down to our Identity. The Turbulent Identity is practically synonymous with stress. Whether Turbulent types are worrying about their performance, as Constant Improvers tend to do, or about other people’s opinions of them, as Social Engagers usually do, their stress often comes down to one fundamental issue: shaky self-confidence. Reacting emotionally to pressure can impact our self-esteem, and that’s a known trigger for stress eating.
Our survey also revealed a tie between these two Strategies for the individual personality types most likely to agree with our statement: Turbulent Protagonists (ENFJ-T) and Turbulent Mediators (INFP-T), both agreeing at a rate of 72%. As Diplomats, Protagonists and Mediators are idealists and altruists, characteristics that carry risks of overcommitting themselves or getting too caught up in the negativity of the world, which can quickly turn into feelings of personal failure and other unpleasant emotions that they’d prefer to avoid.
Turbulent Protagonists, as natural leaders dedicated to inspiring others, may turn to food or drink as a private way of coping with their stress, so that they can keep up their positive attitude in public. Turbulent Mediators, on the other hand, are prone to turning too far inward and can forget to take care of themselves; as mentioned earlier, not getting enough sleep or skipping meals can make us much more likely to seek comfort later by overeating.
People Mastery and Confident Individualism (50% and 48%)
Assertive personality types were 18% less likely to agree with our statement than Turbulent types, and members of the People Mastery and Confident Individualism Strategies appeared to be fairly neutral on the topic of stress eating. This is because Assertive personalities are generally even-keeled and resistant to stress – if they don’t feel stressed in the first place, they won’t feel a need to alleviate stress with food or drink. People Masters and Confident Individualists who do sometimes overindulge may do so as a matter of personal choice, and not as an unconscious reaction to feeling out of control.
Assertive Logisticians (ISTJ-A) (42%) were the least likely of all personality types to agree with our statement. Their cooler heads in times of stress apparently result in calmer stomachs. Logical and analytical, Logisticians are honest with themselves about the fact that a rich plate of pasta and a bottle of wine isn’t going to make their problems go away. Instead, they’ll reduce their stress by seeking a practical course of action that gets to the heart of solving the problem.
紧随自信后勤型人之后的是自信大师 (ISTP-A) (43%)。大师比后勤型人灵活得多，而且他们的情绪也往往不如许多其他性格类型那么稳定，所以他们不容易感到压力。当他们感到压力时，他们可能会转向新事物，而不是让自己承受更多压力或诉诸情绪化饮食来避免压力。
结论
压力下暴饮暴食非常诱人，而且很难停止，因为当我们沉迷于自己喜欢的食物时，我们确实会感到安慰和解脱，尽管这种感觉是暂时的。对于我们这些具有动荡、直觉型人格的人来说，这个问题更加严重。但没有哪种人格类型能够完全免受压力的影响，我们都应该警惕，用食物来应对压力而不是处理我们潜在的情绪，随着时间的推移，情况会变得更糟。压力下暴饮暴食可能会让人上瘾，对我们的身心健康的影响是不可否认的。
下次当您感到压力很大，想吃零食或饮料时，可以尝试瑜伽和冥想等正念练习，或者吃一些更健康的提神食物。参加一些可以舒缓心情或激发积极能量的活动，比如沉浸在一本好书或一部好电影中、与朋友聊天或锻炼身体。
您有压力大时暴饮暴食的习惯吗？您认为您的性格对您应对压力有什么影响？在下面的评论中分享您的想法！