Measures
Hunger
Hunger was measured before and after the mood manipulation by means of a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Participants had to answer the question ‘How hungry are you at this moment?’, with the left anchor of the scale corresponding to ‘not hungry at all’ and the right anchor to ‘very hungry’.
Expectancy and desire
Expectancy to receive chocolate mousse and desire to eat chocolate mousse were assessed with 100 mm VASs. Expectancy was measured with the question ‘How strongly do you expect to receive chocolate mousse at this moment?’, with the scale ranging from ‘no expectancy at all’ to ‘very strong expectancy’. For desire, the question was ‘If you concentrate on the vase with flowers, how strong is your desire to eat chocolate mousse?’ Ratings ranged from ‘no desire at all’ to ‘very strong desire’. Identical desire-VASs were administered before and after the mood manipulation (for eating in general) and before the taste test (specifically aimed at eating chocolate mousse).