Business decisions on an empty stomach? Big mistake!

A smiling man in a black jacket and white shirt with his mouth open holds a large meat sandwich with both hands, with fries next to one hand.

The hunger hormone makes us impulsive and negatively affects our financial strategies

Don’t expect sensible financial and economic decisions from a hungry person, because hunger makes us act recklessly, scientists from Harvard Medical College in Boston say. They found that the hunger-inducing hormone ghrelin led their study participants to choose a small monetary reward, but immediately, rather than a large sum for which they had to wait for.

A woman with eyes closed enjoys food
Photo: Unsplash

The signals of ghrelin

This applies to any business plan: hungry people more often choose options that bring faster results, even if it is associated with a minimum profit, but not long-term strategies that will provide greater income. Evidence that ghrelin negatively affects our cash movements was presented at the ENDO 2021 annual meeting of the echinoderm community.

In previous research on the effects of this hormone, it is clear that ghrelin has a negative effect on the choice of impulses and leads to perplexed behaviour. Now it turns out that its impact on the human psyche is broader and includes decision-making. Ghrelin signals the brain to eat, but it’s not just that. It also works on the biological signaling pathways in the brain that control payment-related processes and the monetary operations we undertake.

A white empty plate on a pink background, a frowning man is drawn in the plate with black fullmaster, a fork and a knife are placed in it.
The signals of hormone

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