Premium
Conscientiousness and (un)healthy eating: The role of impulsive eating and age in the consumption of daily main meals
Author(s) -
Olsen Svein Ottar,
Tuu Ho Huy,
Honkanen Pirjo,
Verplanken Bas
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/sjop.12220
Subject(s) - conscientiousness , psychology , structural equation modeling , clinical psychology , personality , developmental psychology , big five personality traits , social psychology , extraversion and introversion , statistics , mathematics
The present study aims to explore the relationship between conscientiousness and the consumption of healthy versus unhealthy main meals. Impulsive eating was tested as a mediator in this relationship, as well as direct effects of age on those constructs. A nationwide representative sample of 1,006 Norwegian adults (18–70 years) within a prospective design was used to test a theoretical model. The structural equation model ( SEM ), in combination with bootstrapping procedures in AMOS , was the principal analytical method. Conscientiousness was negatively associated with unhealthy and impulsive eating. Impulsive eating was a partial mediator between conscientiousness and unhealthy eating and a full mediator between conscientiousness and healthy eating. Age was positively correlated with conscientiousness and this relationship had an inverted U‐shape form. Finally, age was negatively associated with unhealthy and impulsive eating, and positively associated with healthy eating. This study confirmed the relevance of conscientiousness for healthy, unhealthy, and impulsive eating.