The effects of gender, age and stress on motives underlying food choice

Le Brun, Gemma (2010) The effects of gender, age and stress on motives underlying food choice. University of Worcester.

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Abstract

Investigating motivations underlying food choice is considered an important area of research to help understand why people choose certain foods. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of gender, age and stress on motivations underlying food choice. A convenience sample of participants (N = 100), aged 18 to 71, from Jersey, the University of Worcester and Cornwall took part in the present study. A between-groups, self-report questionnaire design was employed. The measures used were the Food Choice Questionnaire, which assesses nine factors relevant to peoples’ food choice, and the Perceived Stress Scale, which measures the degree to which situations in a person’s life, over the past month, were considered stressful. Findings were analysed using one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance, one-way between-groups analysis of variance and standard multiple regression. Results found statistically significant differences between men and women, and different age groups, but no differences were found between level of perceived stress and food choice motivations. Further analysis found gender, age and stress to be clear predictors for some of the food choice motivation factors. It was concluded that although some significant results were found, they did not provide any new or additional information to this area of research. Future research suggestions include whether or not self-efficacy can have an impact on food choice motivations and whether or not actual food choice is consistent with food choice motivations.