Personality and Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Young Men : Mixed Methods Assessment

Background: To assess whether personality of young men (18–24) may impact on their fruit and vegetable consumption using mixed methods. Methods: Interviews, food diaries and Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). Eight Caucasian young men (18-24), four with low (up to 2 portions daily) and four with high (>4 portions) fruit and vegetable consumption. Ethical approval was provided by the University Ethics Committee. Results: Of the five personality dimensions (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability), conscientiousness and emotional stability presented a near perfect result on TIPI: high scores for high consumers and low scores for low consumers. These scores were generally supported by the thematic analysis of the interviews. One low consumer overturned the trend on the personality dimensions; however, the findings of his interview did not support his TIPI scores. Several reasons may explain this discrepancy, such as the social context of the target behaviour or potential incongruities in survey data. Conclusions: Larger surveys using validated personality tests and qualitative interviews are needed to provide much needed definitive insights into this research area. The findings suggest behavioural interventions might be improved by using cognitive behaviour therapy rather than dietary interventions. Stephanie Howard Wilsher1*, Julie Houghton2 and Alexia Papageorgiou3 1Kent Business School, University of Kent, UK 2School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK 3St. Georges School of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Cyprus Stephanie Howard Wilsher, et al., Annals of Nutrition & Food Science Remedy Publications LLC. 2018 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | Article 1012 2 Personality traits have been associated with numerous health outcomes and health-related behaviors. For example, boys (6–12) scoring high on conscientiousness and emotional stability consumed more fruit and vegetables, while those scoring low on these factors were more likely to be obese [18]. Likewise, conscientious students were more likely to adhere to healthy behaviours, whereas highly extraverted students tended to adopt unhealthy behaviours [19]. Conscientiousness was positively associated with preventive health behaviours and negatively associated with unhealthy behaviours across populations, [20,16] suggesting it might also be linked to risk aversion [19]. Agreeableness was associated with vegetable consumption and openness to experience with fruit consumption in adolescents (12-18 years), which is thought to indicate parental influence [21]. Openness to experience was associated with fruit and vegetable consumption and healthy eating, however, unlike conscientiousness; it was not associated with compliance to dietary recommendations [16]. Conscientiousness is reported to be a health protector that positively and significantly predicts longevity of life with fewer incidences of mental and physical disorders while low emotional stability is associated with more disorders [22,23]. Much of the quantitative research on personality and dietary behaviour has been conducted on adolescents and students, but few studies have measured diet other than with the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The aim of this research was to assess whether personality of young men (18–24 years old) living in the community may impact on their fruit and vegetable consumption. In-depth interviews with young men were conducted to explore how personality might influence diet and health. The interviews were thematically analysed and compared with the results of a personality survey. Fruit and vegetable consumption was measured with food diaries. Method Recruitment and sampling Young men (n=34) who had taken part in focus groups for previous research [24] and had agreed to be contacted about further research were sent an information sheet and letter inviting them to take part. Affirmative replies were received from nine participants who were sent two consent forms, (one to return to SHW and one to keep), a four-day food diary and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). Pre-paid envelopes were included for the participants to return their consent form, food diary and personality questionnaire. Two brothers who had not taken part in the previous study, but who had previously expressed an interest in research and were known to have different eating habits were also invited to take part. On affirmation, they were sent, completed and returned the same documents as the other young men. Young men (n=8) were selected for interview based on their fruit and vegetable consumption to provide extreme case sampling of high (4 or more a day, n=4) and low (up to 2 portions, n=4). These differences reflect theoretical replication advocated to assess motivational differences, rather than the pursuit of data saturation. The three young men whose fruit and vegetable consumption was not extreme were sent a letter explaining why they were not chosen for the research and thanking them for their interest. The final group of selected participants included the two brothers whose average fruit and vegetable consumption matched the target case sampling. For the purposes of calculating fruit and vegetable consumption, four days is considered the optimal period for assessment [26,27]. Six of the young men had completed four food diaries or 24-hour recalls a year earlier, allowing triangulation of behavioural measures and longitudinal data that is considered superior to cross-sectional measures [28]. The Ethics Committee at the University of Kent, UK, approved the methods and procedures for this study. Data collection Semi-structured interviews were conducted by the first author (SHW), either face-to-face at the home of the participant or via Skype. Interviews allow in-depth and flexible exploration of research questions [29]. The interview guide was developed to explore the potential influence of personality factors on health and fruit and vegetable consumption (Table 2). Each interview took about one hour, was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Upon completion of the interview participants received £20 to compensate for their time. Prior to commencement of the interview participants were reminded about the nature of the research, that the information they provided would be anonymised (using a pseudonym only known by the first author) to protect their confidentiality and that they could withdraw from the study at any time. The young men had previously completed research documentation (see above), including the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) questionnaire. TIPI was developed to measure the bipolar elements of each factor with two questions per dimension [30]. Personality measures Personality factors Personality traits Extraversion (E) Gregariousness, assertiveness, warmth, excitement seeking, activity and positive emotions Agreeableness (A) Modesty, compliance, straightforwardness, trust, altruism and tender-mindedness Conscientiousness (C) Achievement, striving, self-discipline, deliberation, order and dutifulness Emotional stability (ES) Depression, hostility, impulsiveness, vulnerability, self-consciousness and anxiety Openness to experience (O) Aesthetics, feelings, fantasy, ideas, actions and values Table 1: Personality factors and their associated traits. Source: Costa and McCrae [17].