Elsevier

Appetite

Volume 25, Issue 3, December 1995, Pages 267-284
Appetite

Regular paper
Development of a Measure of the Motives Underlying the Selection of Food: the Food Choice Questionnaire,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1006/appe.1995.0061Get rights and content

Abstract

A number of factors are thought to influence people's dietary choices, including health, cost, convenience and taste, but there are no measures that address health-related and non-health-related factors in a systematic fashion. This paper describes the development of a multidimensional measure of motives related to food choice. The Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) was developed through factor analysis of responses from a sample of 358 adults ranging in age from 18 to 87 years. Nine factors emerged, and were labelledhealth,mood,convenience,sensory appeal,natural content,price,weight control,familiarityandethical concern. The questionnaire structure was verified using confirmatory factor analysis in a second sample (n=358), and test–retest reliability over a 2- to 3-week period was satisfactory. Convergent validity was investigated by testing associations between FCQ scales and measures of dietary restraint, eating style, the value of health, health locus of control and personality factors. Differences in motives for food choice associated with sex, age and income were found. The potential uses of this measure in health psychology and other areas are discussed.

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This research was supported by Grant L209 25 2013 from the Economic and Social Research Council, U.K. We are grateful to Emma Winstanley for her assistance in data collection.

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Address correspondence to: Dr A. Steptoe, Department of Psychology, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, U.K.

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