Peter Herman
Psychologist at the University of Toronto whose work with Janet Polivy concerns how eating is regulated, including dieting, restraint and the role of outside cues. First author of the 2003 review that reconciled three contradictory bodies of research on how the presence of other people affects how much we eat.
Who they are
Herman's long-running question is what governs when people stop eating. His joint programme with Polivy on restraint and the outside regulation of eating is the background to the 2003 review: it explains why the paper looks to social rules rather than to appetite.
The review's contribution is a reconciliation rather than a new experiment, and the condition attached to it does the work: people look outward when internal signals of fullness are unclear.
Key papers
Herman, C. P., Roth, D. A., & Polivy, J. (2003). "Effects of the presence of others on food intake: a normative interpretation." Psychological Bulletin, 129(6), 873-886. First author.
Key ideas
Eating in company is governed by rules about when to stop, and the situation supplies the rule. See Inhibitory Norms.
The finding that people eat more in groups, the finding that they eat less when watched, and the finding that they match a companion are three cases of one process. See Social Facilitation and Impression Management.
Our notes record no other publication of his that this site relies on, and this page lists none.
Sources
- Herman, Roth & Polivy (2003), Psychological Bulletin, 129(6), 873-886, doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.6.873, verified at the published record 6 October 2026.