New research finds hunger is associated with increased anger, irritability

Jul 08, 2022

New Delhi, July 08 (ANI): New research has discovered that feeling hungry really can make us 'hangry', with emotions such as anger and irritability strongly linked with hunger. Hangry, a portmanteau of hungry and angry, is widely used in everyday language but the phenomenon has not been widely explored by science outside of laboratory environments. The new study, led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in the UK and the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Austria, found that hunger is associated with greater levels of anger and irritability, as well as lower levels of pleasure. The results show that hunger is associated with stronger feelings of anger and irritability, as well as lower ratings of pleasure, and the effects were substantial, even after taking into account demographic factors such as age and sex, body mass index, dietary behaviour, and individual personality traits.