>>WORD FOR WORD / Junk Food Psychology
Triscuits and Cheez Doodles as Windows Into the Soul
there's junk science, and then there's junk-food science.
Just in time for the Super Bowl, not to mention National Snack Food Month
in February, the Snack Food Association and the National Potato Promotion
Board have commissioned a study linking people's snack preferences with
their personality types.
Surprise: People who inhale potato chips aren't necessarily porcine
gluttons but "ambitious, successful, high achievers." And Cheez Doodle
lovers aren't slobs with orange fingers but "formal, always proper,
conscientious, principled."
Hmmm. Let's have a look at this study. It was conducted by Dr. Alan Hirsch,
a neurologist and psychiatrist who runs the Smell and Taste Treatment and
Research Foundation in Chicago. His curriculum vitae notes that "he has
served as an expert on smell and taste on CNN, 'Good Morning America' and
'The Oprah Winfrey Show."'
Excerpts from Hirsch's research follow.
-- TOM KUNTZ
The paper, "Snack Food Hedonics and Personality," begins, "Why do we choose
to eat certain foods?"
Our food choices, like our choices of clothing, movies, automobiles,
vacation spots and mates and lovers, can provide insight into our
personality and character structure. Through our food preferences and
choices we reveal inner thoughts, feelings, wishes and desires. It's no
exaggeration to say that, in many respects, the foods we choose provide a
window to the unconscious.
One way to open that window, Hirsch maintains, is through hedonics, the
field of psychology that measures feelings:
A food's hedonic value is determined by . . . factors including the
inherent gustatory and olfactory properties, cognitive perceptions
including the perceived nutritional value, associated conditioned response
characteristics, olfactory evoked nostalgia and craving.
You say you like some foods and not others? It's not that simple, the study
says:
Pavlovian conditioned response effects also impact the hedonic nature of
the food. Caffeine wakes, alcohol removes inhibitions, sugar energizes.
Alternatively, food aversions also are created if illness occurs coincident
with ingestion. Unconditioned stimuli may also become associated with the
affective view of the food. Romantic interludes after eating dessert may
change the effective valence of the pumpkin pie. Alternatively, ingestion
of chipped beef prior to a forced 10-mile march in full gear may endow a
negative valence to the chipped beef.
The paper hypothesizes that your food preferences can be a gustatory
Rorschach test:
Since eating or smelling of food may reduce psychologic tension, craving or
the desire for food may then be representative of the underlying conflict.
And longstanding preferences may indicate the conflicts associated with
inherent personality structure. Thus, food preference could theoretically
be used as a projective personality test.
So how to gauge the correlation between snack scarfing and personality?
Here's how:
Eight hundred volunteers, 73 percent female, 27 percent male, with a median
age of 45 (range 17-77) underwent a series of psychological tests including
the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-II, Millon Clinical
Multiaxial Inventory-II, Beck Depression Inventory and the Zung Depression
Scale. They were then queried regarding the hedonic preferences of six
different snack foods: potato chips tortilla chips, pretzels, snack
crackers, cheese curls and meat snacks. . . . Spouses or mates of these
subjects also underwent the same hedonic preference assessments. After
these were obtained, analysis was performed correlating snack food hedonics
and personality types. These characteristics were then expanded and
interpreted for lay person understanding. . . .
And the results are:
POTATO CHIPS: Those who love potato chips are ambitious, successful, high
achievers. They enjoy rewards and trimmings of their success -- both in
business and family life. They feel pride and happiness when their spouse
and children are also successful. They seek nothing less than the best in
those around them. Potato chip lovers are easily frustrated and indignant
at life's inconveniences. . . .
Note: Whether in business, sports or a social situation, expect to lose if
you enter into competition with a potato chip lover; they are worthy and
prepared adversaries.
TORTILLA CHIPS : Tortilla chip lovers aren't satisfied with getting a grade
of A, it must be an A plus. Their concern extends beyond their own actions,
and also to the community at large -- they are distressed by the inequities
and injustices of society. This concern for how others feel would make them
an ideal house guest.
PRETZELS : Lively and energetic, those who prefer pretzels crave novelty
and easily become bored by the usual routine. They are excited by the
challenge -- whether it be at work, sports or home. They thrive in the
world of abstract concepts and tend to lose interest in the mundane
day-to-day world. There is a tendency to initiate new projects without
having completed the last, and to overcommit to work or family chores.
Happy in the role as a "flirt," pretzel lovers are comfortable dressed in
an attractive manner. . . . The pretzel lover will be on top of the latest
craze -- having accumulated a herd of "Beanie Babies," they are ready to
conquer the next fad.
Pretzel lovers make decisions based on intuition and emotion. At times,
they are overly trusting, especially in romantic relationships. One pretzel
lover is a welcome addition to any grouping -- they are "the life of the
party, lively, enthusiastic and fun to be with!"
SNACK CRACKERS : Contemplative, thoughtful . . . rather than intuitively
oriented, decisions are reasoned and not based on emotions. Shy and
introspective, (snack cracker eaters) avoid confrontation so as not to hurt
the feelings of others. They have many diverse interests and are involved
in a multitude of projects simultaneously, all competing for their time and
attention. They value their private time and are most creative when allowed
to be alone, free from their daily responsibilities and interruptions.
Note: Those who prefer crackers may easily find themselves romantically
involved in an Internet relationship.
CHEESE CURLS: Formal, always proper, conscientious, principled, the cheese
curl lover maintains the moral high ground with . . . family, work and
romantic partners. They have a fine sense of right and wrong and justly
treat those with whom they interact -- the CEO is treated with the same
fairness and concern as the bus boy. Cheese curl lovers are best described
by one adjective -- integrity.
Rather than showing reckless disregard for the future, they plan ahead,
anticipate any possible future catastrophes. Whether it be Band-Aids or
batteries, the cheese curl lover's house is stocked and ready. Orderly and
perfectionists, they are most comfortable with a neat, uncluttered desk. At
work, play, or at home no detail is left undone.
Note: If it is so spotless you can eat off the kitchen floor, you are in
the domicile of one who craves cheese curls.
MEAT SNACKS: Gregarious, social . . . They are generous to a fault, and
will make extraordinary self-sacrifices to please others. Those who prefer
meat snacks are loyal and true friends who can always be trusted. However,
their overtrusting nature predisposes them to emotional turmoil, especially
when breaking up with a lover.
Note: Those who prefer meat snacks are prone to, and thus should be careful
to avoid, rebound relationships!
And the study concludes:
Food hedonics, whether it be snack food, fruit or ice cream, has potential
utility as a projective test for psychiatric illness as well as personality
typing in subjects without pathology. Future research establishing
cross-geographics and cross-cultural validity of this projective testing is
warranted.<< |
