Does food disgust sensitivity influence eating behaviour? Experimental validation of the Food Disgust Scale

Abstract

Tools that specifically measure food disgust sensitivity are scarce. This gap has been successfully filled with the recently developed eight-item version of the Food Disgust Scale (FDS short). In the present study, we tested the validity of this measure with three behavioural tasks that we designed. Participants (N = 108) filled in questionnaires before they tried three products as part of a behavioural task covered as tasting experiment. We presented these products with written scenarios, which aimed to induce disgust. For all three tasks, we found a significant correlation between the amount participants consumed and their FDS short score. In the first task, we presented participants with a meat product (r = −0.34, p < .001); in the second task, it was a banana juice (rs = −0.26, p < .01); and in the final task, we presented participants with an insect product (rs = −0.51, p < .001). A regression analysis confirmed that participants’ FDS short score acted as a significant predictor for eating behaviour in the meat (ß = −0.26, p < .05) and the chocolate task (odds ratio = 0.51), however, it did not reach statistical significance in the juice task (odds ratio = 0.66). In this paper, we present two important findings. First, we provide evidence for the influence of food disgust sensitivity on people’s eating behaviour as measured by the amount they consumed. Second, and more importantly, our data support the incremental validity of the FDS short as assessed through its correlation with three behavioural tasks and provide evidence for the suitability of self-report measures such as the FDS short.