Factors Influencing Attitudes To Food & Eating Behaviour Flashcards
How many factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour?
4
Name 4 factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
1) Culture
2) Social learning
3) Health concerns
4) Mood
What does a lot of research looking into factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour focus on?
Body dissatisfaction - aims to find the cause of this dissatisfaction and the consequent influence of eating behaviour
Name 2 studies regarding the ethnicity of individuals in terms of factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
1) Powell & Khan (95)
2) Ball & Kenardy (02)
Outline Powell & Khan (95)
Dissatisfaction and eating concerns related and disorders found more of a characteristic of white women than black or Asian women
Outline Ball & Kenardy (02)
Studied over 14,000 women 18-23 years old in Australia - found for all ethnic groups, the longer the time spent in Australia, the more the women reported attitudes and eating behaviours similar to women born in Australia (known as acculturation)
In terms of culture for factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour, what 2 aspects are considered?
1) Ethnicity
2) Social Class
Name the major negative evaluative point about ethnicity for culture in terms of factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Other studies contradict findings - Mumford (91) and Striegel-Moore (95)
Outline Mumford (91)
Found incidence of bulimia was greater among Asian schoolgirls than among their white counterparts
Outline Striegel-Moore (95)
Found more evidence of a ‘drive for thinness’ among black girls than among white girls
Explain social class for culture in terms of factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Research has suggested body dissatisfaction, dieting behaviour and eating disorders are more common in higher-class individuals
Name 2 studies for social class for culture in terms of factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
1) Dornbusch (84)
2) Goode (08)
Outline Dornbusch (84)
Surveyed 7,000 American adolescents and concluded higher-class females had greater desire to be thin
Outline Goode (08)
Used data from 2003 Scottish Health Survey and established in general, income is positively associated with healthy eating
What is the main negative evaluative point for the role of social class for culture in terms of factors influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour?
Relationship is not that straightforward with research contradicting that of above - Story (95) who found in a sample of American students, higher social class related to greater satisfaction with weight and lower rates of weight control behaviours - and other studies have found no relationship between social class and weight dissatisfaction, desire for thinness and eating disorders
Outline Ogden (03)
Food choice ‘takes place within a network of social meanings’ so eating is more than just a biological need - the food we choose and our eating behaviour is a social communication as it gives info about a person’s identity, particularly their cultural identity and tells us about their religion as certain foods cannot be eaten or have to be prepared in a certain way - also, eating is a social interaction so t is important in social identity too (e.g. traditional family meal or a national dish)
Name the main study relating to social class and culture in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Ogden (03)
Name the 3 ways which socially, we use eating for
1) To develop relations (romantic meal for 2)
2) Demonstrate personal wealth (expensive restaurant)
3) For children, social learning theory says they learn what to eat and learn the appropriate behaviour
Name 3 examples of cultural/religious effects on eating behaviour
1) Judaism - preparation is Kosher and there are fasting & ritual feasting days
2) Christianity - bread and wine symbolic, mormons (no caffeine/alcohol), Easter and Christmas are feasting days
3) Islam - Halal foods, Haram foods (forbidden foods) like pork and alcohol, religious days for feasting and Ramadan (fasting for one month)
Explain what effects cultural ideals have on eating behaviour
Eating/not eating can be used to change body shape and size in line with cultural ideals - in Western cultures, no food shortages yet thinness is seen as ideal
Name 4 studies relating to the effect of cultural ideals in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
1) Feingold & Mazzella (98)
2) Toriole (96)
3) Lorenzen (04)
4) Yang (05)
Outline Feingold & Mazzella (98)
Since 50s, women increasingly dissatisfied with body image
Outline Toriole (96)
In cultures where thinness is valued less, there is less discrepancy between actual and ideal body weight and size
Outline Lorenzen (04)
Males exposed briefly to ads where muscular male images shown report body dissatisfaction more than when exposed to normal size images in ads
Outline Yang (05)
In countries where they are not exposed to such ads, there are few image body concerns
What is generally preferred in cultures where food shortages are common?
A curvy larger body is preferred
Explain a significant difference in cultures in terms of eating behaviour
Different cultures view different things as food - e.g. in West, do not tend to regard insects as food but in most parts of the world, insects are an important constituent part of their diet - some differences are practical like not eating pig in a hot climate and many are religious
Why are there differences in cultures as to what they eat?
Some differences are practical like not eating pig in a hot climate and many are religious - but maintenance is much easier to explain
Explain what is meant by maintenance in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Children tend to eat what parents eat and as they grow up, tend to express a preference for similar food to parents - social learning theory in action - media and advertising impact as well as create association between food and good times but we do make association of our own which can be positive and negative
What other 4 aspects besides what we eat does culture determine?
1) Mealtimes
2) Restaurants - increase in eating outside of home
3) School meals
4) Portion size
Name 3 studies for culture in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
1) Lawrence (07)
2) Stead (04)
3) Stefansson (60)
Outline Lawrence (07)
Used discussion groups to investigate factors affecting food choices of ethnic minority females - Bangladeshi & Pakistani females learned cooking skills from older females and took pride in traditional cooking practises but admitted eating Western junk food when food preparation time was short - Zimbabwean women living in the UK noted Western pressure to be thin, reflected in their eating practises, was not present in Zimbabwe
What does Lawrence (07) suggest?
Eating is influenced by culture, but also by time, availability and cost
Outline Stead (04)
Found minority ethnic groups studied lived in the poorest socio-economic conditions and had lower disposable incomes and a poorer quality diet - also lacked cooking skills as removed from their cultural teaching influences
Outline Stefansson (60)
Found Copper Inuits were disgusted by the taste of sugar - they lived in isolation, on diet of flesh and roots, having no experience of other foods - suggests universal preference for sweet tasting food may not exist
Name 3 evaluative points for culture in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
1) Culture can influence eating behaviour directly, but more often plays a moderating role on other variables to determine individual eating practises
2) Cultural eating practises often reflect local environmental conditions
3) Increase in world population mobility, developments in transport & modern food hygiene practises
Explain how cultural eating practises often reflect local environmental conditions for factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
For example, seasonal non-availability of certain foods couples with the ability to transport and keep foods in hygienic conditions like it makes sense to not eat meat in hot cultures where it can go off and become hazardous to health
Explain what an increase in world population mobility, developments in transport & modern food hygiene practises means in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Eating behaviours are now more global and less based on cultural locations - which is a misfortune for cultures with previously healthy diets like China and Japan
Outline social learning in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
It emphasises the impact of observing other people has on our own attitudes and behaviour towards food
Name the 2 aspects of social learning in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
1) Parent modelling
2) Media effects
Explain parental modelling for social learning in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
This means observing the behaviour of parents - parental attitudes inevitably effect children as parents control foods bought and served in the home - however, research has also suggested an association between parents’ and children’s attitudes to food generally
What study support parent modelling for social learning in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Brown & Ogden (04)
Outline Brown & Ogden (04)
Reported consistent correlations between parents and their children in terms of snack food intake, eating motivations and body dissatisfaction
Explain media effects for social learning in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
The impact of TV and magazines - MacIntyre (98) found media have a major impact both on what people eat, and also their attitudes to certain foods - but researchers also state many eating behaviours are limited by personal circumstances like age, income and family circumstances so people appear to learn from the media about healthy eating but must place this info within the broader context of their lives
What is the main study supporting social learning in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Birch & Fisher (00)
Outline Birch & Fisher (00)
Found best predictors of the daughter’s eating behaviour were the mothers’ diet, any restraint and their perception of risks of daughters becoming overweight
Explain the main negative evaluative point for social learning in terms of factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
It is much more than learning - the explanation focuses explicitly on role of fashion models in influencing eating behaviour of young people - however, attitudes to food are clearly a product of much more than social learning alone - evolutionary explanations suggest our preference for fatty and sweet foods is direct result of evolved adaptation among our distant ancestors over 2 million years ago
Name the 3 negative points for factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour in general
1) Cultural differences - Rozin (99)
2) Generalisability
3) Gender bias
Outline Rozin (99)
Claim food functions different in different cultures - adults and college students from Belgium, France, USA and Japan completed a survey dealing with food-related issues, including beliefs about diet-health link, consumption of healthy foods and satisfaction with healthiness of own diets - in all areas except beliefs about importance of diet for health, found cultural differences - all 4 countries, females (more than males) showed pattern of attitudes more like the American and less like the French (associated food with health rather than pleasure) - concluded differences may influence health and may partially account for national differences in rates of cardiovascular disease
Explain the problems with generalisability for factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Research based on variety of groups: some clinical, some sub-clinical, and others who represent a non-clinical population who experience temporarily depressed mood therefore putting limitation on degree to which we can generalise from one group to another and thus the degree to which studies can offer a universal understanding of causal factors in eating behaviour
Explain gender bias for factors that influence attitudes to food & eating behaviour
Most is concentrated on women’s attitudes to eating behaviour, particularly dissatisfaction and disorders but studies shown in men suggest homosexuality is a risk factor in the development of eating disorders (Siever 94) - suggests studies only concentrate on women offer a limited view of attitudes to food and eating behaviour
