Examining Essentialistic Beliefs About Food

NCT04704726 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2020-05-045
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 600
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This project seeks to test whether people maintain essentialistic beliefs about food (foods as having immutable underlying 'essences' that contribute to the food's attributes and properties). Currently, there are studies on essentialistic beliefs on topics such as: race, genes, and natural objects. However, there is limited research applying the concept of essentialism to food. In addition, in food studies, participants' perception and acceptability of foods were being explored but what remains unknown is whether they have any degree of essentialistic beliefs towards food which influences their perception and acceptability of food. Therefore, the aim of this study is to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding on whether people maintain essentialistic beliefs about food, and determine whether these beliefs may be associated with attitudes and expectations of foods that vary in their levels of processing.

Conditions

Adults

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (6)

• Consumers' perceptions of food

  Participants will be shown images of different kinds of foods varying in the levels of processing and they will rate their perceptions of the properties of foods (e.g., nutritiousness, naturalness, familiarity, liking, taste, stereotypical trait, and processing) on a scale that ranges from "Not at all" to "Very much".

  Baseline measure

• Essentialistic beliefs about food (food as having immutable underlying 'essences' that contribute to the food's attributes and properties)

  The essentialistic beliefs about food will be measured by a scale that we developed: Essentialism of Food Scale (EFS): 6-point scale from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree".

  Baseline measure

• Perceptions of essentialistic transference

  Perceptions of essentialistic transference refers to the belief that the essence of a food is transferred to a person who consumes the food, which manifests the properties of the food in the consumer (e.g., the belief that people who have a diet of eating fast-running animals are also fast runners). It will be measured by a scale that we developed: Essentialistic Transference Scale (ETS): 6-point scale with 2 opposite traits as anchors e.g. "Very Irritable" to "Very good-natured"

  Baseline measure

• Nutrition knowledge

  Nutrition knowledge will be measured by the Nutrition Knowledge scale (NKS): 6-point scale from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree".

  Baseline measure

• Perception towards the importance of food naturalness

  Importance of food naturalness will be measured by the Food Naturalness Scale (FNS): 6-point scale from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree".

  Baseline measure

• Consumers' fears towards food technology

  Consumers' fears towards food technology will be measured by the Food Technology Neophobia Scale (FTNS): 7-point scale from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree".

  Baseline measure

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 21 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants will be recruited from the general public of Singapore aged between 21-65 years old, through Dynata (a market research company).

You may qualify if:

• years old

You may not qualify if:

• None

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation: lead

Study Sites (1)

Singapore

Singapore, Singapore

Location

Study Officials

• Bobby Cheon, PhD

  Bobby_Cheon@sics.a-star.edu.sg

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER GOV
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Senior Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 8, 2021
• First Posted: January 12, 2021
• Study Start: September 14, 2020
• Primary Completion: December 23, 2020
• Study Completion: December 23, 2020
• Last Updated: January 12, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-01

Locations

SG (1)