Modelling of food intake in Brazil and Germany: Examining the effects of self-construals

The current research focused on the influence of informational eating norms on people's food intake, and examined whether this influence was moderated by participants' self-construal levels. In two experiments, a two (intake norm manipulation: low vs. high) by two (self-construal manipulation: interdependent versus independent) between-participant factorial design was used. The studies were conducted in Brazil (Experiment 1) and in Germany (Experiment 2) as participants' self-construal levels differ between these countries. In Experiment 1, results indicated that participants exposed to a high-intake norm ate more than participants exposed to a low-intake norm. However, self-construal was not found to moderate the influence of food intake norms on participants' intake. In Experiment 2, replicating the results of Experiment 1, exposure to a high-intake norm increased participants' food intake, but self-construals again did not moderate modelling effects on food intake. Although differences in individuals' self-construal were found between both countries, they did not affect the magnitude of modelling effects on eating. Our studies provide evidence for cross-cultural similarity in the extent to which Brazilian and German female young adults are vulnerable to modelling effects on food intake, independent on their self-construal.