Activity manipulation and eating, 2015

The data come from a third in a series of experimental studies looking at the effect of gender identity threat on food choices. The hypothesis tested was that, when presented with a masculinity threat, men would choose more masculine foods. In this study, 136 male students were recruited online and invited to participate in a research study, ostensibly looking at students' personality and eating. The questionnaire was set up in Qualtrics and distributed via Prolific Academic, which is an UK-based participant panel. Participants were presented with a 20-item questionnaire and told that it would assess personality. In fact, it was a lifestyle questionnaire created for the purposes of this study. Participants were then given bogus feedback, suggesting that their masculinity was either above average (affirmation condition) or below average (threat condition). Immediately after, participants were asked whether they believed the feedback was accurate, and whether they were pleased with the scores. The key outcome measure was a choice from an online menu- participants were asked to choose their breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack from a menu of 9 options, including 3 masculine, 3 feminine, and 3 neutral. Finally, we measured intentions to eat healthily and exercise, and identification with men as a social group. The results of the study showed no difference between the affirmation and threat group in the masculinity of their food choices. This may be due to the fact that participants did not find the feedback to be accurate, and those who received feedback threatening their masculinity were not finding it emotionally threatening.