title: Development and validation of an eating norms inventory. Americans' lay-beliefs about appropriate eating.
abstract: What do American adults believe about what, where, when, how much, and how often it is appropriate to eat? Such normative beliefs originate from family and friends through socialization processes, but they are also influenced by governments, educational institutions, and businesses. Norms therefore provide an important link between the social environment and individual attitudes and behaviors. This paper reports on five studies that identify, develop, and validate measures of normative beliefs about eating. In study 1 we use an inductive method to identify what American adults believe are appropriate or desirable eating behaviors. Studies 2 and 3 are used to purify and assess the discriminant and nomological validity of the proposed set of 18 unidimensional eating norms. Study 4 assesses predictive validity and finds that acting in a norm-consistent fashion is associated with lower Body Mass Index (BMI), and greater body satisfaction and subjective health. Study 5 assesses the underlying social desirability and perceived healthiness of the norms.
authors.affiliation: School of Business, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2R6 Canada. robert.fisher@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Laurette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dubé
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D004435:Eating; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012928:Social Desirability; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult