Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2024-05-12
Abstract： Consumer guilt refers to negative feelings caused by consumer’s behavior that violates social norms or individual values. Consumer guilt exists universally in college students who are not economically independent yet but have a strong willingness to consume. However, few studies have systematically examined what caused consumer guilt in college students. Related research showed that people with different socioeconomic status (SES) had different psychological experience during consuming. Therefore, the level of consumer guilt may vary in college students with different SES. College students’ parents bring them up and also provide them financial support. As main factors of parent-child relationship, Parenting styles and parent-child communication probably moderate the relationship between SES and consumer guilt. Materialism is a value emphasizing the importance of material wealth in individual life. Individuals with high materialism are more likely to engage in irrational consumption, which leads to consumer guilt. That means different level of materialism probably influences the relationship between SES and consumer guilt. Therefore, the current study aims to explore the relationship between SES and consumer guilt. Furthermore, the current study also explores the moderating effects of parenting styles, parent-child communication, and materialism on the relationship between SES and consumer guilt. The current study recruited 560 college students online, who were from different Chinese universities(Mage = 20.94±1.99 years, 266 females). 560 participants completed questionnaires on anticipated and reactive consumer guilt, objective and subjective socioeconomic status, parenting styles, parent-child communication, and materialism. SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS 4.1 were used to analyze data. The results showed that:(1) Objective SES significantly negatively predicted both anticipated consumer guilt and reactive consumer guilt, but subjective SES had no significant effect on anticipated and reactive consumer guilt. (2) Parenting styles and parent-child communication moderated the relationship between objective SES and consumer guilt. When parenting styles(high parents’ emotional warmth、low parents’ rejection and low father’s over protection) and parent-child communication (high conversation、low conformity) were positive, objective SES could significantly negatively predict consumer guilt; when parenting styles and parent-child communication were negative, objective SES had no significant effect on consumer guilt. (3) Materialism had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between objective SES and consumer guilt. The results indicate that objective SES may influence college students’ consumer guilt, and the protective role of family factors on the influence is more reflected in high objective SES college students.
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Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Other Disciplines of Psychology submitted time 2021-10-03
Abstract： Sexual selection has played important roles in shaping human psychology and behaviors. However, its roles in the field of food choice have been seldom examined. In the current study, we reviewed literature on the function of sexual selection in shaping human females’ food choice. According to relevant theories, sexual selection has shaped sex-specific mating strategies. For human males, they care more about potential mates’ physical attractiveness (body fat, waist-hip-ratio, etc.), which has been regarded as an indicator of fertility for human females. The pressure has pushed human females to pay more attention on their body figure. Since food and human’s body figure is intimately related, it is highly likely sexual selection might also cause an effect on human females’ food choice. Indeed, some studies has explored the possibility by examining female food choice after manipulating their mating motivation, and found that mating motivation reduced female choice of high-fat and high-sugar food. Besides, female choice of high-sugar food also fluctuated with menstrual cycle, with increased binge eating and high-sugar food choice during the midluteal phase of menstrual cycle and reduced high-fat food choice during ovulation. These findings suggested that sexual selection might play a role in shaping human females’ food choice. However, it should be noted that extant studies are far from enough to confirm the link. To further understand the relation between sexual selection and food choice in females, we need scholars from different disciplines to cooperate to conduct more systematic studies. Meanwhile, a brain-hormone-behavior perspective would be indispensable for building a comprehensive framework to understand the role of sexual selection in female food choice.
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