Summary: A new study reveals describing certain foods in a foreign language can reduce aversion.
Source: University of Chicago.
Restaurateurs apparently know what they’re doing when they offer “escargot” on a menu rather than “snails.” New research shows that people are more willing to eat foods that they find disgusting if those foods are presented in a foreign language.
That’s the conclusion of a recent set of studies co-authored by a UChicago postdoctoral scholar in psychology, which could help win acceptance for environmentally sustainable foods that many people are unwilling to try.
Americans and Europeans are generally averse to eating insects or artificial meat, for example. Likewise, drinking water made by purifying wastewater has been a tough sell. “In people’s minds, once in contact (with a disgusting entity), always in contact,” said Janet Geipel, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Prof. Boaz Keysar and the lead author of the study published in Nature Sustainability. “No matter how good your technology is, it will not convince these people. So we need psychology to nudge sustainable consumption. And one nudge could be presenting sustainable-but-disgusting products in a foreign language.”
Geipel and her European collaborators were inspired by research, including work done by Keysar and his group, showing that encountering emotionally charged matters in a foreign language reduces people’s emotional reaction to them.
They did three separate studies, testing reactions to recycled wastewater, cookies made from mealworms and artificial meat. Participants were native speakers of German, Italian and Dutch who had learned either English or German as a second language. The participants read about the product either in their native tongue or their second language and were then asked if they would be willing to eat or drink it.
Of those who encountered the products in their native tongue, only about 18 percent said they would be willing to try either artificial meat or mealworm cookies. Forty percent ruled out the meat entirely, and almost 55 percent said an absolute “no” to the cookies. When presented with the products in their second language, however, only 25.8 percent completely ruled out the artificial meat, and 35.5 percent said “never” to the mealworm cookies.
Encountering the recycled wastewater in a foreign language increased participants’ willingness to give it a try by 12 percent. “I think the increase was maybe stronger for products that they don’t like to begin with,” said Geipel. “And artificial meat and insect-based foods are especially aversive to Europeans.”
The wastewater study also looked at actual consumption. Both groups of participants were asked how recently they drank something and were offered a glass of what was purportedly recycled wastewater (actually ordinary tap water). This time the effect of language was marginal, and was modulated by the participants’ thirst.
Geipel plans further work using a simple foreign-language label for the aversive foods rather than an entire description. If it works, such an intervention would be more widely applicable, as many people do not speak a foreign language. She and her colleagues feel that language interventions have potential for helping make some aversive sustainable foods more acceptable.
“You can use language to reduce feelings of disgust related to some products that are rejected by the population,” Geipel said. “A native tongue has a higher emotional resonance than a foreign language because it is used more often and in more emotional contexts. By using a foreign language you take away some of the emotionality attached to ‘insects’, and thus help override a barrier that prevents the consumption of insect-based food.”
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]University of Chicago “Describing Certain Foods in a Foreign Language Reduces Aversion.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 5 February 2018. <https://neurosciencenews.com/language-food-aversion-8428/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]University of Chicago (2018, February 5). Describing Certain Foods in a Foreign Language Reduces Aversion. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved February 5, 2018 from https://neurosciencenews.com/language-food-aversion-8428/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]University of Chicago “Describing Certain Foods in a Foreign Language Reduces Aversion.” https://neurosciencenews.com/language-food-aversion-8428/ (accessed February 5, 2018).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Barriers to sustainable consumption attenuated by foreign language use
The adoption of certain innovative products, such as recycled water, artificial meat and insect-based food, could help promote sustainability. However, the disgust these products elicit acts as a barrier to their consumption. Here, we show that describing such products in a foreign language attenuates the disgust these products trigger and heightens their intended as well as actual consumption.
Uchunguzi mpya unaonyesha kwamba kuelezea vyakula fulani katika lugha ya kigeni kunaweza kupunguza chuki. Chanzo: Chuo Kikuu cha Chicago. "Wafanyakazi wa mikahawa wanajua wanachofanya wanapotoa ""escargot"" kwenye orodha ya chakula badala ya ""sneak"" Utafiti mpya unaonyesha kwamba watu wako tayari kula vyakula wanavyoviona kuwa vya kuchukiza ikiwa vyakula hivyo vitatolewa kwa lugha ya kigeni." Hii ni matokeo ya utafiti uliofanywa na mtaalamu wa saikolojia wa UChicago, ambao unaweza kusaidia kupata kukubalika kwa vyakula vya mazingira ambayo watu wengi hawataki kujaribu. Wamarekani na Wazungu kwa ujumla ni wakosefu wa kula wadudu au nyama bandia, kwa mfano. Vivyo hivyo, ni vigumu kuuza maji ya kunywa yanayotokezwa kwa kusafisha maji machafu. "Katika akili za watu, mara moja katika kuwasiliana (na chombo cha kuchukiza), daima katika kuwasiliana", alisema Janet Geipel, msomi wa baada ya udaktari katika maabara ya Profesa Boaz Keysar na mwandishi mkuu wa utafiti uliochapishwa katika Uendelevu wa Asili. <unk>Haijalishi teknolojia yako ni nzuri kadiri gani, haitawasadikisha watu hawa. Kwa hiyo tunahitaji saikolojia ili kuchochea matumizi endelevu. "Kama ni kweli, Geisel na wenzake wa Ulaya walichochewa na utafiti, ikiwa ni pamoja na kazi iliyofanywa na Keysar na kikundi chake, kuonyesha kwamba kukutana na mambo yenye hisia katika lugha ya kigeni hupunguza athari za hisia za watu kwao. """ Watafiti hao walifanya uchunguzi tofauti kuhusu jinsi watu wanavyofanya kazi na maji machafu, biskuti zilizotengenezwa kwa minyoo na nyama bandia. Washiriki walikuwa wasemaji wa asili wa Kijerumani, Kiitaliano na Kiholanzi ambao walikuwa wamejifunza Kiingereza au Kijerumani kama lugha ya pili. Washiriki waliambiwa kuhusu bidhaa hiyo katika lugha yao ya asili au lugha yao ya pili na kisha wakaulizwa ikiwa wangependa kuikula au kuinywa. Kati ya wale waliopata bidhaa hizo katika lugha yao ya asili, ni asilimia 18 tu waliosema kwamba wangependa kujaribu nyama bandia au biskuti za minyoo. Asilimia 40 waliamua kutokula nyama kabisa, na karibu asilimia 55 wakasema "la" kabisa kwa biskuti. Hata hivyo, wakati walipoonyeshwa bidhaa hizo katika lugha yao ya pili, ni asilimia 25.8 tu waliokataa kabisa nyama bandia, na asilimia 35.5 walisema "hajawahi" kwa biskuti za minyoo ya chakula. Kujifunza lugha ya kigeni kuhusu maji taka ya taka kuliongeza nia ya washiriki kujaribu kwa asilimia 12. "Nafikiri ongezeko hilo labda lilikuwa kubwa zaidi kwa bidhaa ambazo hawapendi kuanza nazo", alisema Geipel. "Na nyama bandia na vyakula vinavyotegemea wadudu ni vya kuchukiza hasa kwa Wazungu. " Utafiti wa maji machafu pia ulichunguza matumizi halisi. Katika kikundi cha watu waliochaguliwa, waliulizwa ni mara ngapi wamekunywa maji ya maji machafu na kisha wakapewa kikombe cha maji ya maji machafu (kwa kweli maji ya bomba). Wakati huu athari ya lugha ilikuwa marginal, na ilikuwa modulated na washiriki 'kiu. Geipel anapanga kufanya kazi zaidi kwa kutumia lebo rahisi ya lugha ya kigeni kwa ajili ya vyakula vya kuchukiza badala ya maelezo yote. Ikiwa itafanya kazi, uingiliaji kama huo ungeweza kutumika kwa wingi zaidi, kwa kuwa watu wengi hawazungumzi lugha ya kigeni. Yeye na wenzake wanahisi kwamba uingiliaji wa lugha una uwezo wa kusaidia kufanya baadhi ya vyakula vya kudumu vya kuchukiza vikubaliwe zaidi. "Unaweza kutumia lugha kupunguza hisia za kuchukizwa zinazohusiana na bidhaa fulani zinazokataliwa na idadi ya watu", Geipel alisema. <unk>Lugha ya asili ina resonance ya juu ya kihisia kuliko lugha ya kigeni kwa sababu hutumiwa mara nyingi zaidi na katika muktadha wa kihisia zaidi. Kwa kutumia lugha ya kigeni wewe kuchukua mbali baadhi ya hisia kushikamana na " wadudu " na hivyo kusaidia kuondoa kizuizi kwamba huzuia matumizi ya wadudu-msingi chakula. [cbtabs] [cbtab title= <unk>MLA<unk>] Chuo Kikuu cha Chicago <unk> Kuelezea Baadhi ya Vyakula katika Lugha ya kigeni hupunguza Aversion. <unk> NeuroscienceNews. Neuroscience News, Februari 5, 2018 "Hii ni kwa sababu ya ""Language-Food Aversion"" (8428)." [Cbtab] [cbtab title=<unk>APA<unk>] Chuo Kikuu cha Chicago (2018, Februari 5). Kufafanua Vyakula fulani Katika Lugha ya Kigeni Hupunguza Uchafu Habari za Sayansi ya neva. "Kuchunguza kwa makini: ""Kuchunguza kwa makini"" ni muhimu kwa ajili ya ""kujifunza"" na ""kujifunza"" katika lugha ya kigeni, na ""kujifunza"" ni muhimu kwa ""kujifunza"" na ""kujifunza"" katika lugha ya kigeni." [CbTab] [CbTab] Vizuizi vya matumizi endelevu vilivyopunguzwa na matumizi ya lugha ya kigeni Kupitisha bidhaa fulani za ubunifu, kama vile maji yaliyotengenezwa upya, nyama bandia na chakula cha wadudu, inaweza kusaidia kukuza uendelevu. Hata hivyo, kuchukizwa na bidhaa hizo hufanya iwe kizuizi kwa matumizi yake. Hapa, tunaonyesha kwamba kuelezea bidhaa kama hizo katika lugha ya kigeni hupunguza chuki bidhaa hizi kuamsha na huongeza yao iliyokusudiwa pamoja na matumizi halisi.