辛辣食物增强心理权力感：证据和心理后果

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.0961

摘要/Abstract

摘要：

人们食用辛辣食物, 不仅是为了追求味觉刺激, 还可能是在“品尝”一种心理权力感。本研究提出并验证了“食辣赋能效应”, 即摄入辛辣食物能够显著提升个体的心理权力感。基于5项实证研究(包括人格判断任务、实验室实验及视频广告数据分析), 结果显示：相较于温和口味的食物, 摄入辛辣食物能够显著提升个体的心理权力感; 这种提升不仅会使个体更倾向于购买能力诉求(相较于温暖诉求)广告所推荐的产品, 还会促进其冒险与挑战行为。研究结论不仅拓展了心理权力感、食品心理学及感官营销的理论研究, 同时也为消费者心理调节及企业营销策略制定提供了新的视角。

关键词: 食辣赋能, 心理权力感, 广告诉求, 食品心理学, 感官营销

Abstract:

Spicy food is more than just a sensory experience; it may shape how powerful we feel. This research proposes and tests the “spicy empowerment effect,” the idea that consuming spicy food can enhance an individual’s psychological sense of power. We hypothesize that consuming spicy food increases individuals’ psychological sense of power, which in turn influences their purchase intentions for products promoted by competence-oriented (vs. warmth-oriented) advertising and their risk-taking and challenge- seeking behaviors.

We tested this effect across a pilot study, three main studies, and an additional study using real-world behavioral data. The pilot study employed a personality judgment task to assess whether individuals labeled as “spicy food lovers” were perceived as more powerful than those who preferred sour or sweet flavors, examining the association between spiciness and psychological power from a social cognition perspective. Study 1 was a laboratory experiment testing whether participants who tasted spicy (vs. mild) snacks reported remarkably higher levels of psychological power. Study 2 examined whether spicy food consumption led participants to prefer purchasing products promoted by competence- (vs. warmth-) oriented advertising and tested the mediating role of psychological power in this relationship. Study 3 utilized a pretest−posttest design to validate robustly the effect on psychological power and extended the findings to behavioral outcomes, namely, risk taking (high-risk investment) and challenge seeking (willingness to attempt a challenging task). Finally, an additional study analyzed real-world behavioral data to examine the association between regional food preferences (spicy vs. mild) and consumers’ likelihood of clicking the shopping cart on advertisements emphasizing competence rather than warmth.

Results showed that in the pilot study, individuals labeled as “spicy food lovers” were perceived as more powerful than those preferring sour or sweet flavors (p < 0.001). Study 1 demonstrated that consuming spicy (vs. mild) food significantly elevated participants’ psychological power (p < 0.001), even after controlling for mood, food liking, inherent preference for spicy food, gender, and age. In Study 2, the interaction between food taste and advertising appeal (competence vs. warmth) was significant (p = 0.004); spicy food consumption increased purchase intentions for competence-oriented advertisements via heightened psychological power (indirect effect = 0.38, SE = 0.14, 95% CI = [0.14, 0.70]). Study 3 showed that spicy food significantly increased psychological power from pretest to posttest (p < 0.001), which subsequently increased participants’ propensity for high-risk investment (p < 0.001) and willingness to attempt challenging tasks (p < 0.001). The additional study further demonstrated that users from high-spice regions were more likely to click the shopping cart on competence-framed advertisements (interaction term: p < 0.05), validating the real-world impact of the empowering effect.

Across a pilot study, three main studies, and an additional real-world data analysis, we demonstrate that spicy food consumption can enhance individuals’ psychological sense of power, shaping their purchase intentions in response to different advertising appeals and promoting risk-taking and challenge-seeking behaviors. These findings contribute to the literature on food psychology, psychological power, and sensory marketing, highlighting how a simple gustatory experience can influence internal psychological states and consequential consumer actions. From a practical perspective, marketers may harness this effect by aligning spicy-themed products with power- and competence-oriented messaging. More broadly, our findings suggest a natural, low-cost, and accessible way for individuals to activate a sense of psychological empowerment and embrace challenges.

Key words: empowering effect of spiciness, psychological sense of power, advertising appeal, food psychology, sensory marketing

中图分类号:

B849: F713.55

雷蜀豫, 傅莹, 杜建刚, 覃琪惠. (2026). 辛辣食物增强心理权力感：证据和心理后果. 心理学报, 58(5), 961-975.

LEI Shuyu, FU Ying, DU Jiangang, QIN Qihui. (2026). Spicy food enhances psychological sense of power: Evidence and psychological consequences. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 58(5), 961-975.

图/表 11

参考文献 47

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分组	人物1(男)	人物2(女)	人物3(男)	人物4(女)	人物5(男)
1	辣	酸	甜	辣	酸
2	酸	甜	辣	酸	甜
3	甜	辣	酸	甜	辣

分组	人物1(男)	人物2(女)	人物3(男)	人物4(女)	人物5(男)
1	辣	酸	甜	辣	酸
2	酸	甜	辣	酸	甜
3	甜	辣	酸	甜	辣

变量	变量说明	Mean	SD	Min	Max
因变量
购买意愿	若用户点击了视频广告中的产品购物链接, 则赋值为1, 否则为0。	0.06	0.23	0	1
自变量
食物口味	来自成都、重庆、长沙的用户, 赋值为1(辛辣口味); 来自杭州、南京和苏州的用户, 赋值为0(清淡口味)。	0.29	0.45	0	1
广告诉求得分	视频广告的广告诉求得分, 越高代表越偏能力诉求。	11.53	12.11	−3.86	90.15
控制变量
视频曝光量	视频广告的曝光次数。	78350.37	89197.25	63	465272
视频时长	视频广告的时长, 单位为秒。	56.98	57.85	4.73	237.12
话题标签数量	视频广告的标题中出现的话题标签数量。	2.57	1.61	0	35
语音讲解内容长度	视频广告的语音讲解内容所包含字数。	219.53	268.64	12	1515
品牌Logo	视频广告中出现品牌Logo, 则赋值为1, 否则为0。	0.03	0.16	0	1
行业	视频广告推荐产品属于3C数码及电器行业, 则赋值为1, 服装配饰行业则为0。	0.39	0.49	1	3
观看时间点	用户观看视频广告的6个时间点：8:00、9:00、15:00、16:00、20:00和21:00, 分别赋值为0至5。	3.26	1.55	0	5
年龄	用户年龄段包括5个区间：小于18岁(0)、18~23岁(1)、24~30岁(2)、31~40岁(3)、41~49岁(4)、50岁以上(5)。	2.46	1.21	0	5
性别	用户性别：女性赋值为1, 男性则赋值为0。	0.49	0.50	0	1

变量	变量说明	Mean	SD	Min	Max
因变量
购买意愿	若用户点击了视频广告中的产品购物链接, 则赋值为1, 否则为0。	0.06	0.23	0	1
自变量
食物口味	来自成都、重庆、长沙的用户, 赋值为1(辛辣口味); 来自杭州、南京和苏州的用户, 赋值为0(清淡口味)。	0.29	0.45	0	1
广告诉求得分	视频广告的广告诉求得分, 越高代表越偏能力诉求。	11.53	12.11	−3.86	90.15
控制变量
视频曝光量	视频广告的曝光次数。	78350.37	89197.25	63	465272
视频时长	视频广告的时长, 单位为秒。	56.98	57.85	4.73	237.12
话题标签数量	视频广告的标题中出现的话题标签数量。	2.57	1.61	0	35
语音讲解内容长度	视频广告的语音讲解内容所包含字数。	219.53	268.64	12	1515
品牌Logo	视频广告中出现品牌Logo, 则赋值为1, 否则为0。	0.03	0.16	0	1
行业	视频广告推荐产品属于3C数码及电器行业, 则赋值为1, 服装配饰行业则为0。	0.39	0.49	1	3
观看时间点	用户观看视频广告的6个时间点：8:00、9:00、15:00、16:00、20:00和21:00, 分别赋值为0至5。	3.26	1.55	0	5
年龄	用户年龄段包括5个区间：小于18岁(0)、18~23岁(1)、24~30岁(2)、31~40岁(3)、41~49岁(4)、50岁以上(5)。	2.46	1.21	0	5
性别	用户性别：女性赋值为1, 男性则赋值为0。	0.49	0.50	0	1

变量	模型 1	模型 2
食物口味 × 广告诉求	0.38^***	0.21^*
	(0.07)	(0.08)
食物口味(0 = 清淡, 1 = 辛辣)	0.54^***	0.24^**
	(0.07)	(0.08)
广告诉求	−0.29^***	−0.33^***
	(0.05)	(0.07)
视频曝光量		−0.06
		(0.03)
视频时长		−0.35^***
		(0.09)
话题标签数量		−0.40^***
		(0.08)
语音讲解内容长度		0.31^***
		(0.07)
品牌Logo (0 = 无, 1 = 有)		−0.45
		(0.26)
性别 (0 = 男, 1 = 女)		−0.50^***
		(0.08)
年龄	No	Yes
观看时间点	No	Yes
日期固定效应	No	Yes
行业固定效应	No	Yes
常数项	−2.99^***	−2.65^***
	(0.04)	(0.47)
伪R²	0.01	0.06