title: The transmission of attitudes towards food: twofold specificity of similarities with parents and friends.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study explored whether similarity of students' food attitudes with those of their parents and friends varies as a function of both the food and type of measurement. We expected greater resemblance with parents for attitudes towards fruit and for implicit attitudes and greater resemblance with friends for attitudes towards snacks and for explicit attitudes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the resemblance in implicit and explicit attitudes towards fruit and preference for sweet over savoury snacks between target-parent and target-friend pairings. The parental-peer mutual influence effect was separated from cultural effect by comparing real and random dyads.
  
  
  METHODS
  Target participants were 85 students who recruited one parent and one best friend each. All participants completed online two Implicit Association Tests and rated their liking for fruit and sweet/savoury snacks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our target participants' attitudes towards fruit were predicted by those of their parents rather than friends, with this relationship being detected through implicit but not explicit measures. Conversely, target participants' preference for sweet over savoury snacks was predicted with those of their friends but not parents, with this relationship being detected through explicit but not implicit measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Young adults' resemblance to parents and friends, in terms of food attitudes, seems specific both to the food type and to the attitude measure, suggesting that parents' influence concerns healthy food and is exerted at an implicit attitude level; whereas friends' influence concerns junk food and is exerted at an explicit attitude level. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
authors: Department of Communication and Economy, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Viale Allegri 9, Reggio Emilia, Italy. margherita.guidetti@unimore.it
authors: Margherita
authors: M
authors: Guidetti
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Conner
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Prestwich
authors: Nicoletta
authors: N
authors: Cavazza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group