Having low blood sugar does not only make you feel hungry but at the same time it makes you impatient, cranky and change the way you think and make decisions. A study published in psychological Science Journal of University of South Dakota says that people that have low blood sugar are more attracted towards immediate rewards whereas people that have a high level of blood sugar have more tendencies to choose larger and distant rewards.
Dvorak and Wang have anticipated these results keeping in mind that low level of blood sugar affects the tendency of the people to choose less valuable goods over more valuable goods like larger and later rewards. Authors have pointed out that people that have a high level of blood sugar opt for long term rewards as they are not hungry an long term goals seems more affordable.
To test this theory the authors have to recruit a group of 65 college students. These students were divided into two groups. Both groups were advised not to eat in the morning and their blood sugar levels were monitored several times during the trial day. They were then questioned like
“Would you like to have $120 tomorrow or $450 after one month?” The duration and the amount of the reward varied but the central idea of delayed or instant reward was kept consistent.
One group was then offered a sugar filled drink and the other group was offered a diet soda. After this they were again asked a series of questions about postponed or immediate rewards. To ensure the accuracy of their desires the researchers informed the students that at the end of the experiment they would be actually rewarded with the price they have chosen.
The researchers found out that before the drinks both group were asking for the immediate rewards but after the drink; the group one that was ordered sugary drink was satisfied, so the students asked for long term rewards. The member of the first group remained consistent with their desires and asked for immediate rewards.
The results of the study suggested that human preferences changes for moment to moment based on their blood sugar levels. This research further supported the previous study that suggested the human desires for money is rooted with out desires of foods.
This study simply suggested a clue that can bring out more responsible and generous clue to make big decisions on a full stomach.