Eww she sneezed! Contamination context affects children's food preferences and consumption

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Jasmine M. DeJesus, Assistant Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Does contextual information about disgust influence children's food consumption and subjective experience of taste? Three- to eight-year-old children (N = 60) were presented with two identical foods, yet children were led to believe that one food had been contaminated by sneezing and licking, while the other was clean. When given the opportunity to eat the foods, 5- to 8-year-old children consumed more clean food and rated the clean food's taste more positively; younger children did not distinguish between the foods. The relation between contamination and subjective taste held even among children who ate both foods and had direct evidence that they were identical. These data indicate that children's consumption behavior and food preferences are influenced by information external to foods themselves.

Additional Information

Publication
Appetite
Language: English
Date: 2015
Keywords
Social cognition, Eating, Food selection, Contamination, Disgust

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