Does Fasting Make Us All Equal? Evidence on the Influence of Appetite on Implicit Sexual Prejudice

Background: Interoception has long been linked to various aspects of social cognition, including morality, altruism, and empathy. This study extends the literature by examining whether interoception also influences automatic evaluative reactions that reveal prejudice. We hypothesized that individuals' interoceptive awareness and their appetitive states would impact their implicit biases, particularly regarding prejudices related to race, weight, and sexual orientation. Method: We administered three Implicit Association Tests (IATs) targeting prejudices related to race, weight, and sexual orientation to a group of 40 participants (23.94 years, SD = 7.25). To explore the relationship between interoception and IAT performance, we manipulated appetite and assessed interoceptive awareness using the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness. Results: Our findings reveal an interaction between religiosity and appetite in predicting implicit prejudice toward sexual orientation. Consistent with existing literature, religious individuals demonstrated higher levels of racial prejudice compared to non-religious individuals. However, this difference was attenuated when participants were tested under fasting conditions (i.e., when they were hungry). Furthermore, both disgust sensitivity and interoceptive sensitivity were found to predict implicit prejudice, with their influence varying depending on the specific type of prejudice. Conclusions: Our study contributes to the field by demonstrating that prejudice can emerge from the interplay between individual characteristics and motivational states. Clinically, these findings suggest that enhancing interoceptive awareness and addressing motivational states could be potential strategies not only to support individual psychological health but also to reduce vulnerability to prejudicial attitudes.