Journal
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 31, Issue 6, Pages 806-814Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1037/a0027041
Keywords
diet; dietary patterns; personality; Five-Factor Model; openness
Categories
Funding
- FP7 grants [201413, 245536]
- Estonian Government [SF0180142s08]
- University of Tartu
- European Union through the European Regional Development Fund
- Estonian Ministry of Science and Education [SF0180029s08]
- European Social Fund [3-8.2/60]
- European Social Fund (Mobilitas program) [MJD44]
- Ernst Jaakson's scholarship
- Medical Research Council [G0700704B, G0700704] Funding Source: researchfish
- MRC [G0700704] Funding Source: UKRI
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objectives: Diet has health consequences, which makes knowing the psychological correlates of dietary habits important. Associations between dietary habits and personality traits were examined in a large sample of Estonians (N = 1,691) aged between 18 and 89 years. Method: Dietary habits were measured using 11 items, which grouped into two factors reflecting (a) health aware and (b) traditional dietary patterns. The health aware diet factor was defined by eating more cereal and dairy products, fish, vegetables and fruits. The traditional diet factor was defined by eating more potatoes, meat and meat products, and bread. Personality was assessed by participants themselves and by people who knew them well. The questionnaire used was the NEO Personality Inventory-3, which measures the Five-Factor Model personality broad traits of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, along with six facets for each trait. Gender, age and educational level were controlled for. Results: Higher scores on the health aware diet factor were associated with lower Neuroticism, and higher Extraversion, Openness and Conscientiousness (effect sizes were modest: r = .11 to 0.17 in self-ratings, and r = .08 to 0.11 in informant-ratings, ps < 0.01 or lower). Higher scores on the traditional diet factor were related to lower levels of Openness (r = -0.14 and -0.13, p < .001, self- and informant-ratings, respectively). Conclusions: Endorsement of healthy and avoidance of traditional dietary items are associated with people's personality trait levels, especially higher Openness. The results may inform dietary interventions with respect to possible barriers to diet change.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available