Learning to Dislike Chocolate: Conditioning Negative Attitudes toward Chocolate and Its Effect on Chocolate Consumption

Frontiers in Psychology

卷:8

Dingyuan Zhang¹  Guosen Wang²  Jinglei Zhu²  Yuan Fang²  Lei Wang²  Xianghua Cui²  Yan Wang² 

[1] Department of Music, East China Normal UniversityShanghai, China;

[2] School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal UniversityShanghai, China;

关键词: evaluative conditioning;    chocolate consumption;    explicit attitudes;    implicit attitudes;    chocolate evaluation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01468

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Evaluative conditioning (EC) procedures can be used to form and change attitudes toward a wide variety of objects. The current study examined the effects of a negative EC procedure on attitudes toward chocolate, and whether it influenced chocolate evaluation and consumption. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental condition in which chocolate images were paired with negative stimuli, or the control condition in which chocolate images were randomly paired with positive stimuli (50%) and negative stimuli (50%). Explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images were collected. During an ostensible taste test, chocolate evaluation and consumption were assessed. Results revealed that compared to participants in the control condition, participants in the experimental condition showed more negative explicit and implicit attitudes toward chocolate images and evaluated chocolate more negatively during the taste test. However, chocolate consumption did not differ between experimental and control conditions. These findings suggest that pairing chocolate with negative stimuli can influence attitudes toward chocolate, though behavioral effects are absent. Intervention applications of EC provide avenues for future research and practices.

【 授权许可】

Unknown