Food psychology is the psychological study of how people choose the food they eat (food choice), along with food and eating behaviors.[1] Food psychology is anapplied psychology, using existing psychological methods and findings to understand food choice and eating behaviors.[2] Factors studied by food psychology includefood cravings, sensory experiences of food, perceptions offood security andfood safety, price, available product information such asnutrition labeling and the purchasing environment (which may be physical or online). Food psychology also encompasses broadersociocultural factors such as cultural perspectives on food,[3] public awareness of "what constitutes asustainable diet",[4] andfood marketing including "food fraud" where ingredients are intentionally motivated for economic gain as opposed to nutritional value.[5][6] These factors are considered to interact with each other along with an individual's history of food choices to form new food choices and eating behaviors.[5]
The development of food choice is considered to fall into three main categories: properties of the food, individual differences and sociocultural influences.[1][7] Food psychology studies psychological aspects of individual differences, although due to the interaction between factors and the variance in definitions, food psychology is often studied alongside other aspects of food choice includingnutrition psychology.[7]
As of 2022[update], there are no specific journals for food psychology, with research being published in both nutrition and psychology journals.[4][8]
Food psychology has been used to examine how eating behaviors have been globally affected by theCOVID-19 pandemic. Changed food preferences due to COVID-19 have been found, with both beneficial and harmful effects on food choice.[13][14] Studies inSpain andSaudi Arabia found a reduced consumption of processed foods andjunk food, and higher rates of sustainable diets,[15][13] whereas UK residents and US university students were found to have less influence in household food choice, increased snacking behaviors and generally increased consumption of junk food.[14][16] 48% of residents in a UK study reported increased food intake, especially for high energy foods, and a similar percentage reported increased food cravings.[17] Increased food stockpiling and reduced effects of familiarity on food choice were also observed.[13][16]
While some participants appear to have thrived in this context, with healthier lifestyles and decision-making, others gained weight, lacked varied diets and struggled with food expense.[16]
A 2020 review found the largest effects of COVID-19 in food choice to be fromlockdowns, income loss leading to reduced food security, andbereavement due to COVID-19.[18] For example, one study in Iran found 61% of the sample population experiencing food insecurity which resulted from both economic and psychological effects.[19]
An individual'sneed for closure, a psychological measure of desire for certainty, was found to predict foodstockpiling andwasting of food.[20] A study inChile found higheranxiety as a predictor for fast food and pastry intake, suggesting thatemotional eating has been amplified due to COVID-19.[21] By comparison, a UK study found lower levels offood craving control to be the most accurate predictor of increased high energy sweet and savoury food intake, along with emotional overeating,emotional undereating, experiencedsatiety and enjoyment of food being found as poor predictors.[17]
The tendency to stockpile orhoard food has also been explained using thetheory of planned behavior, using data collected fromVietnam that has suggested highrisk perception is correlated with food stockpiling andpanic buying.[22] The perception of lacking food was found higher scoring inUS women than US men, and higher inIndian men compared to Indian women, suggesting that country of residence may be a moderator to how gender affects need for closure in food, based on household roles.[20]
Italy has received particular academic attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for studies of food choice as the country was one of the most severely affected by COVID-19. One study found survey results that "Around 40% of the [Italian] population perceive that strengthening the immune defences through nutrition is not important to reduce the risk of coronavirus disease".[23] Survey results suggest that cooking behaviors were increased andjunk food consumption was reduced,[24] along with raised public interest in sustainability issues includingsustainable food products.[25]
Ethnocentrism has been proposed as an explanation for the large change in food choice and eating behaviors of Italians during COVID-19.[26]
^Köster, Egon Peter (July 2003). "The psychology of food choice: some often encountered fallacies".Food Quality and Preference.14 (5–6):359–373.doi:10.1016/s0950-3293(03)00017-x.ISSN0950-3293.
