The impacts of diet-related health consciousness, food disgust, nutrition knowledge, and the Big Five personality traits on perceived risks in the food domain

Abstract

This study examined the effects of psychological traits and nutrition knowledge on perceived risks related to food and nutrition. A sample of Swiss adults (N = 2,319) indicated their perceptions of a broad set of food and nutrition-related risks (e.g., contamination, pathogens, high salt consumption). These data were collected in two survey waves (in 2018 and 2020, respectively). Cross-sectional and longitudinal data were used to examine which factors influenced perceived risks and which factors influenced changes in perceived risks over a two-year period. The participants’ risk perceptions showed some stability over time. Food disgust sensitivity and diet-related health consciousness had a significant positive influence on perceived risks, and the longitudinal analysis suggests that changes in these two constructs explain changes in perceived risks over a two-year period. Nutrition knowledge was associated with a higher perception of lifestyle risks but a lower perception of other food-related risks. The findings suggest that nutrition knowledge results in greater concern about the food risks that people should be most worried about. Furthermore, food disgust and diet-related health consciousness may not only result in healthier behavior but may also increase perceived risks associated with food hazards (e.g., gluten) that do not need to be of concern to most people. For the Big Five personality traits, only two significant correlations were observed (openness and conscientiousness), and the effect sizes were small. This study suggests that increasing people’s diet-related health consciousness and nutrition knowledge may enhance people’s perceptions of lifestyle risks.