THE MEANING OF FOOD IN LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE. Co-investigators: Naomi Arbit, Matthew Ruby, Paul Rozin University of Pennsylvania

Transcription

1 THE MEANING OF FOOD IN LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE Co-investigators: Naomi Arbit, Matthew Ruby, Paul Rozin University of Pennsylvania

2 Background Traditional theories of health behavior explain eating behavior in terms of rational, deliberative cognitive processes and expectancy value theories Empirically, these models display poor predictive power & they ignore important aspects of the way people relate to food as well as the role of food in living the good life Meaning of food construct not yet formally explored nor operationalized in the health behavior or psychology literatures

3 Background: Meaning Stable, higher-order, abstract construct that involves making connections between and integrating events and experiences into a larger and coherent sense of order. Involves an understanding of one s self + one s world (lifeworld), as well as one s role in the world. Also encompasses a motivational drive towards purposive activities congruent with this larger cognitive framework. Baumeister s (1991) definition of meaning concisely captures it s essence: Meaning is shared mental representations of possible relationships among things, events, and relationships. Thus, meaning connects things.

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5 The Meaning of Food in Life Criterion for classification: If an action is meaningful, it is included into the meaning web and thus finds a place in the whole person s life-world, rather than in the demands of the situation. (Leontiev, 2013) To what degree are people making food decisions from the perspective of their life-world? As opposed to from the perspective of the immediate situation?

6 The Meaning of Food in Life The meaning of food in life represents the degree to which people feel and comprehend their relationship with their food as having significance beyond the immediate demands of the situation and as connected to their larger life-world. Just as the meaning of a word refers to something beyond the word itself, so too does the meaning of food imply a connection to something beyond the immediate situation. Explicitly involves a cognitive connection made between people s food and non-immediate, non-food related domains of life contrast with immediate, hedonic and proximal orientations to food.

7 Gastro-anomie and learned helplessness Prior to the emergence of our modern food system, our relationship to food was laden with meanings that figure importantly in our symbolic, social, and ecological worlds Gastro anomie? People disconnected from the origins of their food, and have no framework for evaluating it Claude Levi Strauss: food must not only be good to eat, but good to think. People have lost the shared socio-cultural principles by which to guide their food behaviors and as a result they make food decisions based on proximal, immediate, or hedonic factors. Learned helplessness with respect to the food system; people increasingly disempowered in selecting appropriate foods.

8 MFL, Positive Psychology and Eudaimonic Eating How does the meaning of food in life relate to positive psychology? MFL: explores the degree to which people comprehend and make food choices from the perspective of their lifeworld, and whether this anchors them to certain eating patterns which are significantly different Positive interventions? Meaning as an approach to changing lifestyles > body shaming and weight loss obsession

9 Research Design 3 pilot studies (n=202, n=151, n=253) Sample recruited from Mechanical Turk Scales selected to demonstrate convergent validity: The Beliefs About Well-Being Scale (McMahan and Estes, 2011) Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (Hwang, Plante, and Lackey, 2008) Self-Compassion Scale (Raes, Pommier, Neff, and Van Gucht, 2010) Outcome measures: Fruit and vegetable intake Dietary intentions, Purchasing behaviors Willingness to pay increased food prices

10 Questionnaire items: Factors & Reliability analyses Social (α =.88) Food is a way for me to connect with my cultural traditions Sharing food with others makes me feel closer to them Aesthetics (α =.85) I can appreciate the beauty of a dish even if I do not like it Spiritual (α =.85) My food choices are a way for me to connect with the sacred My food choices connect me to forces in the world bigger than myself Health (α =.85) Eating foods that I know are good for my body brings me comfort I get satisfaction from knowing that the food I eat is good for my health

11 Moral Significance of Food Choice: Sample Items Moral Significance (α =.88) I care about the impact of my food choice on the world I am responsible for the impact of my food choice on the world My food choices reflect my connection to nature My food choices are independent of my values (Reverse)

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14 Moral Significance and Dietary Behavior Moral Significance of Food b =.79* b =. 82* b =. 67* Trying to limit intake of red meat Fruit and vegetable consumption Trying to limit processed food intake * All significant at P<0.001

15 Moral Significance and Dietary Behavior Moral Significance of Food b =.94* b =.96* b =.95* Purchasing organic foods Willingness to pay: environment Willingness to pay: animal welfare * All significant at P<0.001

16 Implications/Future Directions Having a sense that your food choices are imbued with moral significance makes you significantly more likely to: - Consume more fruits and vegetables - Try to limit intake of red meat - Try to consume organic - Limit intake of processed foods - Moral concern with food as possible avenue for dietary intervention? - Positive approaches to lifestyle change promotion of meaning rather than behavior extinction - Future directions international, cross cultural research project assessing meanings and motivations

17 17 MFL: Cross-Cultural Pilot Study US India Germany 2 1 MFMoral MFSoc MFSpir MFAest

18 Thank you.