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Development of a measure of the motives underlying the selection of food: the Food Choice Questionnaire
The motivations behind dietary choices are influenced by a variety of factors, including health considerations, cost, convenience, and personal preferences. To systematically assess these influences, researchers have created a new tool, the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ). This instrument emerged from factor analyses conducted on a diverse sample of 358 adults aged 18 to 87 years.
Through this analysis, nine distinct factors were identified: health, mood, convenience, sensory appeal, natural content, price, weight control, familiarity, and ethical concern. These findings were further supported by a confirmatory factor analysis in a second sample of 358 adults, as well as satisfactory test-retest reliability over 2 to 3 weeks.
In addition to establishing the questionnaire’s reliability, the study explored its convergent validity. This was done by examining correlations between the FCQ scales and various measures, including dietary restraint, eating styles, the perceived value of health, health locus of control, and multiple personality factors. The research also uncovered significant variations in dietary motivations attributable to demographic factors, including sex, age, and income.
The implications of these findings are extensive, indicating the FCQ’s potential utility in health psychology and related fields and providing valuable insight into the diverse factors that influence food choices. [NPID: Assessment, Food Choice Questionnaire, motivation, dietary choices]
Year: 1995
