Subjective social status and calorie preference

Abstract

Within a social environment, individuals feeling low social status relative to others may display a preference for foods that are more caloric dense or foods that signal more calories through their sensory properties. Studies suggest that calories and money are perceived as equivalent, and need for resources overlaps with food preference and selection. This may be attributed to a need to safeguard oneself from future situations where availability of food may be insecure. Subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) is defined as how people perceive their position in a hierarchy when considering socioeconomic factors and their status in a group. This study aims to explore the association between low SSS and subsequent preference for high calorie food as well as low SSS and sensory sensitivity to calories. Prior studies found a link between SSS and calorie intake and preferences for high calorie foods. Given this, individuals that experience low SSS may also have a heightened sensory sensitivity to the calorie density (CD) of foods – which can facilitate their goal to detect and consume calorie-dense food. Using taste tests that included a ranking task, paired comparisons and independent ratings of sensory properties, we found that experimentally manipulated participants who felt low (vs. high or neutral) SSS displayed slight preferences for high calorie food and differences in ability to discriminate between higher/lower calorie drinks. However, high SSS was also shown to have a blunting effect on sensitivity that reflected inability to discriminate between drinks.