Publications by authors named "Charlotte J S De Backer"

Mate value is an important concept in mate choice research although its operationalization and understanding are limited. Here, we reviewed and evaluated previously established conceptual and methodological approaches measuring mate value and presented original research using individual differences in how people view themselves as a face-valid proxy for mate value in long- and short-term contexts. In data from 41 nations (N = 3895, M = 24.

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Social media culinary videos are a prominent feature across various social media platforms and constitute one of many media platforms that expose audiences to food. Given that there is a link between exposure to food content through food media and nutrient intake, our study aimed to investigate the effects of exposure to social media culinary videos on adolescents' appetites. We conducted a pre- and posttest study with 126 middle school children (M = 13.

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Adolescents regularly observe practices of online celebrity bashing. Existing research pointed to adolescent bystanders' approving attitudes toward this practice. However, knowledge is lacking on how adolescent bystanders respond emotionally and physiologically to cases of celebrity bashing.

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Television (TV) cooking shows have evolved from focusing on educating to focusing on entertaining, as well. At present, educational TV cooking shows focus on the transfer of cooking knowledge and skills, whereas edutainment TV cooking shows focus on entertaining their viewers. Both types of shows are ongoing success stories.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines why people choose to cut back on meat, focusing on vegetarians (who avoid meat completely) and semi-vegetarians (who reduce meat intake in varying degrees).
  • Key motivations for vegetarians include animal rights, environmental concerns, and taste, whereas health reasons are more common among semi-vegetarians.
  • The research highlights that there are diverse motivations within each dietary group, suggesting future studies should explore these differences more thoroughly.
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The aim of this work is to explore the relation between morality and diet choice by investigating how animal and human welfare attitudes and donation behaviors can predict a meat eating versus flexitarian versus vegetarian diet. The results of a survey study (N=299) show that animal health concerns (measured by the Animal Attitude Scale) can predict diet choice. Vegetarians are most concerned, while full-time meat eaters are least concerned, and the contrast between flexitarians and vegetarians is greater than the contrast between flexitarians and full-time meat eaters.

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This study focuses on the connection between prosocial behavior, defined as acting in ways that benefit others, and shared meals, defined as meals that consist of food(s) shared with others. In contrast to individual meals, where consumers eat their own food and perhaps take a sample of someone else's dish as a taste, shared meals are essentially about sharing all the food with all individuals. Consequently, these meals create situations where consumers are confronted with issues of fairness and respect.

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The aim of this study is to investigate if reported childhood food habits predict the food habits of students at present. Questions addressed are: does the memory of childhood family meals promote commensality among students? Does the memory of (grand)parents' cooking influence students' cooking? And, is there still a gender difference in passing on everyday cooking skills? Using a cross-sectional survey, 104 students were asked about their current eating and cooking habits, and their eating habits and the cooking behavior of their (grand)parents during their childhood. Results show that frequencies in reported childhood family meals predict frequencies of students' commensality at present.

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In this paper we present two compatible hypotheses to explain interest in celebrity gossip. The Learning Hypothesis explains interest in celebrity gossip as a by-product of an evolved mechanism useful for acquiring fitness-relevant survival information. The Parasocial Hypothesis sees celebrity gossip as a diversion of this mechanism, which leads individuals to misperceive celebrities as people who are part of their social network.

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