Food disgust sensitivity predicts disease-preventing behaviour beyond the food domain in the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

Abstract

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, personal hygiene behaviours such as proper handwashing have gained significantly more attention and interpersonal contact is performed with great care. Disgust, as a disease-avoidance mechanism, can play an important role in the promotion of hygiene behaviour. We know from previous research that pathogen disgust can be a predictor of an individual’s behaviour in the pandemic. Given that the pandemic greatly affects our food and eating behaviour, the current study aims to add to the existing evidence and to complement it by investigating the role of food-specific disgust in the pandemic. For that, we conducted an online survey in Germany in April 2020, while the pandemic was spreading in Europe. A total of 519 participants completed the survey and provided information about their COVID-19-related attitudes and behaviours and about their food disgust sensitivity. The results show that food disgust sensitivity is an important predictor for an individual’s feelings, shopping behaviour, and disease-preventive behaviour related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the success of political measures to fight the pandemic critically depends on the population to support and follow the proposed measures, a better understanding of the factors driving individual behaviour is key. Implications for pandemic management are discussed.

Determinants of the decision to build up excessive food stocks in the COVID-19 crisis

“…Compared with women, men showed a 13.9 percentage points lower probability of stockpiling more food than usual between March 13 and April 26, 2020. This finding is in line with data collected in Germany, which found that stockpiling behaviour during the pandemic was correlated with gender, indicating that women were more likely to build up stocks ( Ammann & Casagrande, 2021 ). In this respect, H2 cannot be rejected.…”

“…Therefore, concerns that certain foods are temporarily not available might cause panic buying and hoarding. Similarly, studies conducted in Germany ( Ammann & Casagrande, 2021 ; Lehberger et al, 2021 ; Schiller et al, 2021 ) found that stockpiling behaviours were positively associated with worries about future food unavailability. Thus, H9 cannot be rejected.…”

“…Several recent studies have used “worried to not find certain foods” or “fears that certain foods are unavailable” as predictors of stockpiling behaviour ( Ammann & Casagrande, 2021 ; Lehberger et al, 2021 ; Schiller et al, 2021 ). The findings of these studies highlight that people who were worried about not finding certain foods were responsible for panic buying and excessive food stockpiling.…”

“…Observed food panic buying and excessive stockpiling during the first lockdown in 2020 must be considered irrational behaviour ( Schiller et al, 2021 ). Interestingly, a variety of studies identified the anticipation of food shortages or fear of potential future food unavailability, respectively as a psychological driver of panic buying and excessive food stockpiling ( Ammann & Casagrande, 2021 ; Lehberger et al, 2021 ; Schiller et al, 2021 ). Moreover, the fear of getting infected by the coronavirus ( Wang & Hao, 2020 ) caused people to reduce their frequency of shopping trips and to stockpile more than usual ( Panzone et al, 2021 ).…”

How did the COVID-19 pandemic influence health-related behaviour? An online survey on food choice, physical activity and changes in body weight among Swiss adults

“…Building on the second, it was argued that bread-making is symbolic in that it connotes a person's ability to produce food and support their family and loved ones. Overall, there is a tendency to cook more during the pandemic as compared before ( Ammann & Casagrande, 2021 ), which may also be related to individuals spending more time at home due to contact restrictions, closure of shops, or remote work. For future crises, this is an important aspect to consider in order to ensure security of supply and to prevent shortages as those we have seen for instance for yeast ( Easterbrook-Smith, 2020 ).…”