Men 'dramatically' overeat in social situations because they feel it makes them appear more masculine, new research suggests.

To investigate how eating with others affects a person's behaviour, US researchers challenged 20 men and women of similar body types to competitively eat chicken wings in a 30-minute contest, both with and without cheering spectators. The competitors were told they would be given a medal for winning that had no monetary value.

The world's biggest food fights Show all 11 1 /11 The world's biggest food fights The world's biggest food fights La Tomatina, Buñol, Spain Revellers throw tomato pulp at each other during the annual "tomatina" festivities in the village of Bunol, near Valencia on August 26, 2015. Some 22,000 revellers hurled 150 tonnes of squashed tomatoes at each other drenching the streets in red in a gigantic Spanish food fight marking the 70th annual "Tomatina" battle. AFP PHOTO / BIEL ALINO (Photo credit should read BIEL ALINO/AFP/Getty Images) Biel Alino/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights La Tomatina, Buñol, Spain A reveller is pelted with tomato pulp during the annual "tomatina" festivities in the village of Bunol, near Valencia on August 31, 2016. Today at the annual Tomatina fiesta 160 tonnes of ripe tomatoes were offloaded from trucks into a crowd of 22,000 half-naked revellers who packed the streets of Bunol for an hour-long battle. / AFP / BIEL ALINO (Photo credit should read BIEL ALINO/AFP/Getty Images) Biel Alino/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights La Tomatina, Buñol, Spain Revellers covered in tomato pulp participate in the annual "tomatina" festivities in the village of Bunol, near Valencia on August 31, 2016. Today at the annual Tomatina fiesta 160 tonnes of ripe tomatoes were offloaded from trucks into a crowd of 22,000 half-naked revellers who packed the streets of Bunol for an hour-long battle. / AFP / BIEL ALINO (Photo credit should read BIEL ALINO/AFP/Getty Images) Biel Alino/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights World Custard Pie Championship, Kent Funk Dooby/Flickr The world's biggest food fights World Custard Pie Championship, Kent Funk Dooby/Flickr The world's biggest food fights La Merengada, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain Ajuntament de Vilanova i la Geltrú The world's biggest food fights La Merengada, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain Ajuntament de Vilanova i la Geltrú The world's biggest food fights Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights Clean Monday, Galaxidi, Greece Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights Clean Monday, Galaxidi, Greece Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

The second part of the study by the Food Lab at Cornell University involved a survey of 93 students who rated male and female competitive eaters in a random order based on how intelligent, attractive, healthy, strong, and romantic they seemed.

Participants in the study ate four times more chicken wings on average when eating competitively, at 23 pieces. But when they were being cheered on by a crowd, men ate 30.5 wings while women ate 17, the study showed.

Surveyed after the competition, women said they felt “self-conscious” and a “little embarrassed” as opposed to men who described the contest as “cool” and “exhilarating”.

Researchers in the small study concluded that, even when the stakes are relatively low, eat “dramatically” more food, according to the authors.

These findings support previous studies which indicate that men overeat in social situations “where there are opportunities to ‘show off’”.

This could affect how much, particularly younger men, eat at parties and other events.