Patricia Pliner

Development of a scale to measure the trait of food neophobia in humans

Using standard test construction techniques, we developed a paper and pencil measure of the trait of food neophobia, which was defined as a reluctance to eat and/or avoidance of novel foods. The resulting 10-item test was found to have satisfactory test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Three behavioral validation studies demonstrated that test scores predicted behavior in laboratory food selection situations. Scores on the measure were found to be correlated with trait anxiety, age, the Experience Seeking subscale of the Sensation Seeking Scale, general neophobia, and general familiarity and experience with unusual foods. Scores were not related to gender or to finickiness.

The effects of mere exposure on liking for edible substances.

In order to determine the effects of mere exposure on liking for edible substances, male undergraduate subjects tasted previously unfamiliar tropical fruit juices 20, 10, 5 or 0 times. After this exposure phase, subjects rated each of the juices in terms of their liking for its taste. The results showed a strong exposure effect such that the more frequently a juice had been tasted, the better it was liked. It was suggested that the mere exposure effect may play a role in the acquisition of food preferences.

Gender Differences in Concern with Body Weight and Physical Appearance Over the Life Span

Age, gender, and gender role differences on a set of variables including concern with eating, body weight, and physical appearance, global self-esteem, and appearance self-esteem were examined in a sample of subjects consisting of 639 visitors to a participatory science museum. Their ages ranged from 10 to 79 years. Results showed that females are more concerned than males about eating, body weight, and physical appearance and have lower appearance self-esteem. More important, these gender differences are generally apparent at all ages. The importance of gender differences across the life span in appearance concern and appearance self-esteem is discussed.

Temperament and food neophobia in children and their mothers

We obtained measures of behavioral neophobia, rated neophobia, temperament, and liking for novel and familiar foods for 81 pairs of siblings (ranging in age from 5-11 years) and their mothers. The childrens data revealed a decrease with age in behavioral but not rated neophobia, and there were positive correlations between both measures of neophobia and the temperament dimensions of emotionality, shyness, and negative reactions to foods. In addition, liking for good-tasting novel foods was negatively related to shyness and to negative reactions to foods. For mothers, both measures of neophobia were related to negative reactions to foods and unrelated to any other temperament dimensions. The data revealed little evidence of family resemblance (mother-child or sibling-sibling) in food neophobia.

Eating, social motives, and self-presentation in women and men

Abstract Two studies were conducted to explore the notion that eating behavior can serve a role in impression management. In Experiment 1, male and female subjects ate a meal in the presence of an attractive male or female confederate. Both male and female subjects ate less in the presence of a partner of the opposite (vs. same) sex. Experiment 2 was a questionnaire study designed to clarify the results of Experiment 1 by learning what social motives are relevant in an interpersonal situation involving eating and how amount eaten serves each of these social motives. The results indicated that behaving in a socially desirable manner could account for the eating behavior of males while for females both being socially desirable and appearing feminine could have affected amount eaten. It was suggested that the conceptual approach of impression management theory can be useful in interpreting the results of these studies as well as understanding the “drive for thinness” found in females in our culture.

Liking and Memory for Musical Stimuli as a Function of Exposure.

Three experiments examined changes in liking and memory for music as a function of number of previous exposures, the ecological validity of the music, and whether the exposure phase required focused or incidental listening. After incidental listening, liking ratings were higher for music heard more often in the exposure phase and this association was stronger as ecological validity increased. After focused listening, liking ratings followed an inverted U-shaped function of exposure for the most ecologically valid stimuli (initial increases followed by decreases), but this curvilinear function was attenuated or nonexistent for less valid stimuli. In general, recognition improved as a function of previous exposure for focused listeners, but the effect was attenuated or absent for incidental listeners.

Time to eat: the relationship between the number of people eating and meal duration in three lunch settings.

We conducted an observational study of customers in three different types of lunch settings: a worksite cafeteria, a fast-food restaurant, and a moderately priced restaurant, and assessed the relationship between meal duration and the number of people eating at each table (group size). Results suggest a significant positive correlation between group size and meal duration, collapsing over eating settings. Analysis of variance yielded significant main effects of both eating setting and of group size, indicating that meal durations were longest in the moderately priced restaurant and shortest in the fast-food restaurant. An interaction between group size and eating setting indicates that the magnitude of the group size effect on meal duration differed in the different situations, with the effect of group size on duration being smallest, but still significant, in the fast-food setting compared with the other two settings.

Compliance without pressure: Some further data on the foot-in-the-door technique

Abstract A replication of the Freedman and Fraser (1966) “foot-in-the-door” technique was attempted in which subjects were exposed to one of two prior requests and were then asked to comply with a larger request. The results showed that subjects receiving prior requests complied with the larger request significantly more often than did control subjects. The mechanism by which the technique operates was discussed.

Human food choices : An examination of the factors underlying acceptance/rejection of novel and familiar animal and nonanimal foods

Two studies, aimed at increasing our knowledge of the factors that contribute to acceptance of novel foods were conducted. In Study 1, male and female participants were presented with familiar and novel animal and nonanimal foods and were asked to rate these foods on a variety of measures including: beliefs about the foods, feelings to the thought of ingesting the foods, and willingness to try the foods. Results demonstrated that willingness to try familiar nonanimal foods was predicted by beliefs about the negative sensory properties of the foods and joy elicited by the thought of eating them. Willingness to try familiar animal foods was predicted by beliefs about the sensory properties of the foods and beliefs about the anticipated negative consequences of eating them. Conversely, willingness to try novel foods, of both animal and nonanimal origin was predicted by beliefs about the disgusting properties of these foods and the interest evoked at the thought of consuming them. Study 2 used a qualitatively different sample from that used in Study 1 and perfectly replicated the previous results pertaining to the novel foods. Implications for our understanding of food-related disgust rejections are considered.

Internal and External Moderators of the Effect of Variety on Food Intake

Many factors contribute to how much we eat. One such factor is the variety of different foods available. The current article reviews the variety literature with a specific focus on the factors that moderate the effects of variety on food intake and that moderate the processes that may underlie the variety effect (i.e., sensory-specific satiety and monotony). The moderators have been categorized as being of either an internal nature or an external nature. The literature suggests that internal moderators, including characteristics such as gender, weight, and dietary restraint, do not act as moderators of the variety effect. One possible exception to the absence of internal moderators is old age. Alternatively, external moderators, such as particular properties of food and the eaters perception of the situation, appear to affect the strength of the variety effect on intake to some degree. An evolutionary hypothesis may account for the distinct roles that internal and external variables play in moderating the variety effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).