The Role of Personality Traits in Young Adult Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Abstract

This project investigated how individual differences in the big-five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) predicted plant-food consumption in young adults. A total of 1073 participants from two samples of young adults aged 17–25 reported their daily servings of fruits, vegetables, and two unhealthy foods for comparison purposes using an Internet daily diary for 21 or 13 days (micro-longitudinal, correlational design). Participants also completed the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) measure of personality, and demographic covariates including gender, age, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI). Analyses used hierarchical regression to predict average daily fruit and vegetable consumption as separate dependent variables from the demographic covariates (step 1) and the five personality traits (step 2). Results showed that young adults higher in openness and extraversion, and to some extent conscientiousness, ate more fruits and vegetables than their less open, less extraverted, and less conscientious peers. Neuroticism and agreeableness were unrelated to fruit and vegetable consumption. These associations were unique to eating fruit and vegetables and mostly did not extend to unhealthy foods tested. Young adult women also ate more fruit and vegetables than young adult men. Results suggest that traits associated with greater intellect, curiosity, and social engagement (openness and extraversion), and to a lesser extent, discipline (conscientiousness) are associated with greater plant-food consumption in this population. Findings reinforce the importance of personality in establishing healthy dietary habits in young adulthood that could translate into better health outcomes later in life.

Normal variations in personality predict eating behavior, oral health, and partial syndrome bulimia nervosa in adolescent girls

“…The finding that conscientiousness is the most important personality trait for fruit and vegetable consumption is consistent with findings observed in adult samples (Allen et al, ; Conner et al, ; Keller & Siegrist, ). However, the current study does not support previous work that also found a small positive association between extraversion and fruit and vegetable intake (Conner et al, ; Keller & Siegrist, ). An important new finding was that personality trait change over 2 years related to healthy eating.…”

Examining the “Veggie” personality: Results from a representative German sample

“…Conscientiousness has been negatively associated with unhealthy eating (Bogg & Roberts, 2004), while extraversion and openness have been shown to have positive relationships with healthy eating (Brummet et al, 2008;Keller & Siegrist, 2015). Steptoe et al (1995) also reported that willingness to try new foods is related to openness, and Conner et al (2017) found that openness and extraversion were related to greater fruit and vegetable consumption in young adults.…”

Associations of children’s Big Five personality with eating behaviors

“…In this study, the conscientiousness subtraits of order, concentration, and perseverance underline the importance of executive functioning, behavioral adaptation, and low impulsiveness for regularity in eating. Imagination explained correlated with lower fussiness and enjoyment of food, findings paralleling the healthier food choices in adults with high Openness to experience fish and more fruit and vegetables [ 19 ].…”