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Updated: Nov 14, 2025
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Measuring Oral Fatty Acid Thresholds, Fat Perception, Fatty Food Liking, and Papillae Density in Humans
Published on: June 4, 2014
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Assessing the Relationship Between Drive for Thinness and Taste-Shape Correspondences
Yumi Hamamoto1,2, Kosuke Motoki1,3, Motoaki Sugiura1,4
11Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Multisensory Research
|March 11, 2021
Summary
Individuals with eating disorder tendencies show a stronger association between sweet tastes and round shapes. Obsessiveness may mediate this link, offering new insights into psychological mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Eating disorder tendencies are risk factors for anorexia and bulimia nervosa.
- Individuals with these tendencies often associate sweet foods with weight gain.
- Crossmodal correspondences link sweet tastes with round shapes, but individual differences are key.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between taste-shape matching and eating disorder tendencies.
- To explore the mediating role of psychological factors in this association.
- To provide insight into the psychological mechanisms underlying eating disorder tendencies.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted with healthy participants.
- Participants rated taste-shape associations and completed questionnaires on eating disorder tendencies, obsessiveness, dichotomous thinking, and self-esteem.
- Statistical analyses examined correlations and mediation effects.
Main Results:
- A positive correlation was found between drive for thinness and matching sweetness to round shapes.
- Experiment 2 replicated these findings and revealed obsessiveness as a mediator.
- Individual differences in taste-shape matching are linked to eating disorder tendencies.
Conclusions:
- There is a relationship between taste-shape matching and eating disorder tendencies.
- Obsessiveness plays a preliminary mediating role in this relationship.
- This study offers novel insights into the psychological underpinnings of eating disorder tendencies.
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