How consumption and reward features affect desire for food, consumption intentions, and behaviour.

Understanding the mechanisms that underlie desire and intentions may assist in the search for strategies to promote the selection and consumption of more sustainable and healthier products. Therefore, we conducted two experiments to examine how cognitive representations influence desire and intentions for various savoury dishes. In Experiment 1, 1000 participants were allocated to one of five conditions, listing either the typical, sensory, context, hedonic, or health features of 20 popular dishes to assess cognitive representations, before rating their present moment desire to consume each dish.

How (not) to talk about plant-based foods: using language to support the transition to sustainable diets.

Reducing meat consumption is essential to curb further climate change and limit the catastrophic environmental degradation resulting from the current global food system. However, consumers in industrialised countries are hesitant to reduce their meat intake, often because they find plant-based foods less appealing. Despite the climate emergency, eating meat is still perceived as the norm, and recommended in most national dietary guidelines.

Effects of calorie labelling and contextual factors on hypothetical coffee shop menu choices.

This study examined the effects of calorie labelling and two key contextual factors (reflective motivation and habits) on the calorie content of hypothetical coffee-shop menu choices. In one exploratory (n = 70) and one pre-registered (n = 300) laboratory study (Studies 1 and 2 respectively), participants viewed a hypothetical calorie-labelled or non calorie-labelled menuboard and selected their preferred item(s). Coffee shop drinking habits were measured using the Self-Report Habit Index, and reflective motivation (relating to calorie intake) was assessed with three items asking about watching weight, eating healthily, and reading calorie labels.

The effect of priming on food choice: A field and laboratory study.

Priming involves the activation of a mental concept in memory which increases the likelihood that it will be assimilated into subsequent information processing. The present study investigates whether exposure to prime stimuli can increase the selection of unhealthy foods, which is an important topic as priming has been found to influence judgements, decisions, and behaviour outside of awareness. Study one was a between-subjects field study which examined the effect of brief exposure to food-related logos on subsequent snack choice.

The Psychosocial Adjustment of Children Born With a Cleft Lip and/or Palate: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses.

Objective: To determine the psychosocial adjustment of children born with a cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P).

Design: Longitudinal analyses of psychosocial outcomes and cross-sectional comparison with published norms.

Setting: Retrospective clinical audit at a UK cleft center.

The impact of self-imagery on aspects of the self-concept in individuals with high levels of eating disorder cognitions.

Background And Objectives: Low self-esteem has been identified as a maintaining factor in Cognitive Behavioural models of eating disorders and links have been identified between early memories, negative core beliefs and mental imagery. This study explored the impact of positive and negative self-imagery on aspects of the working self (implicit and explicit self-esteem, self-concept clarity and self-discrepancy) and affect.

Methods: Participants with high levels of eating disorder cognitions completed measures of explicit self-esteem, self-concept clarity, self-discrepancy and affect prior to completing a positive or negative self-imagery retrieval task.

Self-imagery in individuals with high body dissatisfaction: the effect of positive and negative self-imagery on aspects of the self-concept.

Background And Objectives: Cognitive behavioural models of eating disorders highlight low self-esteem as a maintaining factor. This study explored the impact of positive and negative self-imagery on aspects of the working self (implicit and explicit self-esteem and self-concept clarity) in individuals with high body dissatisfaction (an important aspect of eating disorders). The impact of these images on state body satisfaction and affect was also explored.