A Taste of Emotions: Why is my waiter rude? And why is my kid not eating?

We all want to feel good, especially when we put ourselves in the care of others. Hospitality does just that. But why are emotions so important when providing such services? We will see that emotions offer valuable information about the guest and the host that go beyond the “service with a smile.” Inspired by psychological research on emotional intelligence, we discuss the competencies of emotion recognition, understanding, regulating one’s own and managing the emotions of others. Emotions are more than just brief sentiments, and we need to pay attention to them to create hospitality.

Christine will talk about her research on how persistent and impairing picking eating develops in childhood. She will explore the biological and behavioral factors under investigation as drivers of emotionally driven food avoidance in young children and present findings from her research.

According to positive psychology, people who are happier tend to be healthier and stronger psychologically and physically. But happiness is hard to find and short lived most of the time. So, what can we do to promote positive emotions and expand the emotional experience? One way is to influence our mind though the body and embody positive emotions. Embodying pleasant emotions in as much of the body as possible allows emotional experience to linger for much longer. This can improve our health and make us more resilient in the face of life’s challenges. So, let’s practice positive psychology!