Ri. Stein et Cj. Nemeroff, MORAL OVERTONES OF FOOD - JUDGMENTS OF OTHERS BASED ON WHAT THEY EAT, Personality & social psychology bulletin, 21(5), 1995, pp. 480-490
Previous research found that meal size can affect judgments of eaters'
attractiveness and femininity. The present study investigates whether
eating specific types of foods-namely, healthy, nonfattening foods ve
rsus unhealthy, fattening ones-gives rise to moral judgments about the
eaters. Subjects were presented with one of four bogus profiles of a
person, which differed only in gender and foods consumed. Subjects rat
ed the target on morality; potential mechanisms of effects were also e
xplored. Results confirmed the hypothesis that moral judgments of othe
rs differ depending on the foods they eat. This result was not simply
due to a halo effect but was explained by two mediational mechanisms:
the Puritan ethic and the ''you are what you eat'' principle. However,
the effect did not show predicted moderation by subject or target gen
der, or restrained-eating status. Foods also seemed to influence subje
cts' perceptions of fitness and weight information about the target.