Associations of infant appetitive traits during milk feeding stage with age at introduction to solids and sweet food/beverage intake

Abstract. Metaphors often characterize prosocial actions and people as sweet. Three studies sought to explore whether conceptual metaphors of this type can provide insights into the prosocial trait of agreeableness and into daily life prosociality. Study 1 (n = 698) examined relationships between agreeableness and food taste preferences. Studies 2 (n = 66) and 3 (n = 132) utilized daily diary protocols. In Study 1, more agreeable people liked sweet foods to a greater extent. In Study 2, greater sweet food preferences predicted a stronger positive relationship between daily prosocial behaviors and positive affect, a pattern consistent with prosocial motivation. Finally, Study 3 found that daily prosocial feelings and behaviors varied positively with sweet food consumption in a manner that could not be ascribed to positive affect or self-control. Altogether, the findings encourage further efforts to extend conceptual metaphor theory to the domain of personality processes, in part by building on balance-related ideas.

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The impact of sweet food tax on producers and household spending—Evidence from Hungary

Agricultural Economics ◽

10.1111/agec.12634 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anikó Bíró

Keyword(s):

Household Spending ◽

Sweet Food ◽

The Impact

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The processing of visual food cues during bitter aftertaste perception in females with high vs. low disgust propensity: an fMRI study

Brain Imaging and Behavior ◽

10.1007/s11682-021-00455-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anne Schienle ◽

Albert Wabnegger

Keyword(s):

Personality Trait ◽

Visual Cues ◽

Critical Role ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Conflict Monitoring ◽

Food Cues ◽

Sweet Food ◽

Visual Food Cues ◽

Disgust Propensity

AbstractAn extremely bitter taste can signal food spoilage, and therefore typically elicits disgust. The present cross-modal functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment investigated whether the personality trait ‘disgust propensity’ (DP; temporally stable tendency to experience disgust across different situations) has an influence on the processing of visual food cues during bitter aftertaste perception. Thirty females with high DP and 30 females with low DP viewed images depicting sweet food (e.g., cakes, ice cream) and vegetables, once in combination with an extremely bitter aftertaste (concentrated wormwood tea), and once with a neutral taste (water). Females highly prone to disgust (compared to low disgust-prone females) showed increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and increased mPFC-insula connectivity when presented with the mismatch of a bitter aftertaste and visual cues of sweet food. The ACC is involved in conflict monitoring and is strongly interconnected with insular areas. This connection plays a critical role in awareness of changes in homeostatic states. Our findings indicate that the personality trait DP is associated with cross-modal integration processes of disgust-relevant information. Females high in DP were more alert to food-related sensory mismatch (pleasant visual features, aversive taste) than females low in DP.

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