Appetite 43 (2004) 65–74

www.elsevier.com/locate/appet

Research Report

Magical food and health beliefs: a portrait of believers

and functions of the beliefs
Kia Aarnio*, Marjaana Lindeman
Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 9, FIN-00014, Finland
Received 20 August 2003; revised 21 January 2004; accepted 8 March 2004

Abstract
The aims of the present two studies were to delineate a portrait of people who are attracted to magical beliefs about food and health and to
study the self-reported functions for the beliefs. Participants were Finnish men and women ranging in age from 15 to 66 years (N ¼ 3261 in
study 1 and N ¼ 189 in study 2), and they filled in either an Internet-based or a paper questionnaire. The believers were more often women
than men, vegetarians than omnivores, and they relied more on alternative medicine, thought in a more intuitive way, and demonstrated more
eating-disordered thinking than the nonbelievers. Additionally, the believers had experienced slightly more negative life events than the
nonbelievers in study 1 but contrary to our hypothesis, they did not differ in their desire for control. The believers reported value-expressive
function as the most important one served by their beliefs, followed by the control and utilitarian functions. The emotional, intuitive nature of
food beliefs and their connection to values and identity are discussed.
q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Magical beliefs; Food; Health; Functions of beliefs; Intuitive thinking

Regardless of the enormous and growing amount of
scientific knowledge on nutrition and health many people
are drawn to unfounded nutritional beliefs and practises.
This is demonstrated in the numerous lay theories on proper
eating, effective dieting, or best ways of maintaining health
or recovering from illness. Examples include blood type
diet, paleo diet, anti-ageing food, detoxification diets, yin
and yang food, herbal products, miracle pills, cellulite
removers, calorie-blockers, massage belts, and body
cleansing programmes, to name a few. In the present two
studies we suggest that part of the popular unfounded food
and health beliefs are actually based on magical thinking,
and analyze the characteristics of the believers and the
psychological functions the beliefs may serve.
Beliefs that are defined magical follow either of the two
laws of magical thinking, contagion or similarity. The
magical law of contagion holds that things that have once
been in contact with each other continue to act upon each
other at a distance after the physical contact has been broken
off, and that things that have been united in imagery
have a physical impact on each other (Frazer, 1922/1963;
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kia.aarnio@helsinki.fi (K. Aarnio).
0195-6663/$ - see front matter q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.appet.2004.03.002
Rozin & Nemeroff, 1990). The assumed contagion may be
positive or negative. An example of positive contagion is a
belief that food prepared by a loved one is better for health
than that made by a stranger. Another illustration of positive
contagion is the belief of raw food eaters and fruitarians that
sprouts should be eaten immediately after picking them up
so as to be able to consume the ‘life energy’ in them (Kandel
& Pelto, 1980). More often, however, contagion is
associated with its negative effects, namely contamination
and pollution. For example, the Hua people from the
highlands of New Guinea believe that a newly married
woman is so polluted that no initiated person in her
husband’s community may eat anything she has prepared or
served (Meigs, 1984). Modern versions of negative
contamination are beliefs that food cooked with electrical
heat lowers vitality and fragments thinking (Kushi, 1989),
and that even a brief contact with any animal product (e.g. a
piece of meat) renders a whole vegetarian dish inedible
(Lindeman & Stark, 1999; Rozin, Markwith, & Stoess,
1997).
The magical idea of contamination is usually linked to a
need for some purificatory actions (Rozin & Nemeroff,
1990). For instance, rituals of purification, such as vomiting
and eye washing have been performed in some cultures to
66 K. Aarnio, M. Lindeman / Appetite 43 (2004) 65–74
purify the body of the contagious effects of wrong food
(Meigs, 1984). Today, people are instructed to cleanse their
bodies by drinking vinegar or massive amounts of water
(Billings, 1997), and to detoxify their bodies by fasting or
taking baths with sea salt (Spence, n.d.).
The second law of magical thinking, the law of
similarity, holds that superficial resemblance indicates, or
causes, deep resemblance. It implies that an effect
resembles its cause and that like produces like (Frazer,
1922/1963; Rozin & Nemeroff, 1990). As the British
statesman William Gladstone once said: “We would all be
healthier if we chewed each bite of food precisely 32
times—why else did nature endow us with exactly 32
teeth” (cited in Gilovich, 1991). Similarly, the Hua people
do not eat any food that is red because this color is
associated with menstrual blood and the vagina (Meigs,
1984). Today, the law of similarity is exemplified by
some people’s reluctance to blow their nose on soft toilet
paper from a brand new roll (Rozin, Millman, &
Nemeroff, 1986), and by a belief that a diet that has an
approximate water content of 70% is needed because our
bodies are 70% water (Diamond & Diamond, 1985).
On formulating our hypotheses about people who have
magical food and health (MFH) beliefs, we made use of
research on attitudes toward food and health and on
magical thinking. First, we predicted that women hold
more MFH beliefs than men (hypothesis 1) based on the
knowledge that women, in general, are more inclined to
traditional superstitious beliefs (Irwin, 1993; Vyse, 1997),
more concerned about food and health issues (Pliner,
Chaiken, & Flett, 1990; Rozin, 1999; Rozin, Fischler,
Imada, Sarubin, & Wrzesniewski, 1999), and more
sensitive to contagion (Nemeroff & Rozin, 2000) and to
magical beliefs-related emotion of disgust (Fessler,
Arguello, Mekdara, & Macias, 2003; Haidt, McCauley,
& Rozin, 1994) than men. Second, we expected to find a
positive relationship between vegetarianism and MFH
beliefs (hypothesis 2) because previous studies have
shown that some vegetarians have magical beliefs about
bodily functions (Lindeman, Keskivaara, & Roschier,
2000) and about animal products (e.g. ‘meat arouses the
animal instinct in people’, Beardsworth & Keil, 1992,
p. 273). Third, we assumed positive attitude
toward alternative medicine to be positively associated
with MFH beliefs because alternative medicine utilizes
concepts that are in line with the magical laws of
contagion (the notions of impurities and purification) and
similarity (similar cures similar), as exemplified by
homeopathy (hypothesis 3).
Many researchers have suggested that magical beliefs
and practices provide a sense of control over the
uncontrollable and that they reduce anxiety created by
conditions of risk and uncertainty (Frazer, 1922/1963;
Malinowski, 1948/1984; Nemeroff & Rozin, 2000; Vyse,
1997; Zebb & Moore, 2003; Zusne & Jones, 1989). For
example, some athletes eat a lucky meal before an
exciting game. In line with these suggestions, some
studies have shown that rituals and other superstitious
behaviors emerge as a response to frightening situations
and personal crises (Keinan, 1994; Lillqvist & Lindeman,
1998; Padgett & Jorgenson, 1982). Although most of the
magical beliefs and superstitions examined in the above-
mentioned studies do not follow the magical laws of
similarity and contagion, we predicted that MFH beliefs
have similar correlates, that is, that individuals with
many MFH beliefs have experienced more negative life
events (hypothesis 4) and have a higher desire for control
than the nonbelievers (hypothesis 5). Moreover, because
Keinan (2002) has shown that stress increases the
emergence of magical rituals, and that the frequency of
resorting to rituals in stress situations is greater among
individuals with a high desire for control, we hypoth-
esized that desire for control mediates the relationship
between negative life events and magical beliefs
(hypothesis 6).
Further, we assumed that magical thinking about food
and health is related to intuition. This hypothesis is based
on the dual-process theories of thinking and related
studies, which suggest that people have two information-
processing systems, the reasoning system and the
intuitive system (Chaiken & Trope, 1999; Epstein &
Pacini, 1999; Haidt, 2001; Lieberman, 2000; McClelland,
McNaughton, & O’Reilly, 1995; Sloman, 1996; Smith &
DeCoster, 2000). These studies have shown that con-
scious reasoning and the more automatic intuition differ
in many respects. The evolutionarily older intuitive
system helps people make approach –avoidance distinc-
tions (essential for species survival) whereas the newer
reasoning system helps people make true – false distinc-
tions (Epstein & Pacini, 1999). Intuitive processing bases
assessment of information on affects and personal
experiences whereas reasoning requires justification with
objective evidence (Epstein, Pacini, Denes-Raj, & Heier,
1996; Haidt, 2001).
Intuitive and magical thinking are similar in many
respects. They are not based on conscious reasoning and
do not require justification via logic and evidence: They
are rather self-evidently valid. Moreover, like intuitive
thinking (e.g. Epstein & Pacini, 1999; Smith &
DeCoster, 2000), magical thinking is based on associ-
ations as shown by the examples of the law of contagion
and the law of similarity (for a positive connection
between magical ideation and associative thinking, see
Mohr, Graves, Gianotti, Pizzagalli, & Brugger, 2001).
There is also empirical evidence that intuitive
thinking is typical for individuals who hold traditional
superstitions (Epstein et al., 1996; Wolfradt, Oubaid,
Straube, Bischoff, & Mischo, 1999). We thus hypoth-
esized that MFH beliefs appeal especially to people who
process information in a more intuitive way than other
people (hypothesis 7).
 K. Aarnio, M. Lindeman / Appetite 43 (2004) 65–74
Study 1
Method
Participants
The participants were 3261 Finnish students. Their mean
age was 24 years (SD ¼ 4.67), with a range from 15 to 60
years. Seventy-four percent were females. Eighty-five
percent of all the participants reported being full-time
students, 9% as being full-time employed, and the
remaining 6% as being otherwise occupied. Of those
studying, 77% were university students and 23% attended
a vocational school. Together, they represented a wide
variety of disciplines, including social sciences, natural
sciences, law, medicine, behavioral sciences, technology,
agriculture, arts, humanities, business and service. Of the
original 3282 participants, 21 were excluded because of
missing data.
Procedure
The participants were recruited through six universities
and 10 vocational schools in Finland. Where applicable, we
sent a recruitment message to a student e-mail list. Where
such lists were lacking, an employee of the educational
institute posted information on the study on a communi-
cation board (either real or virtual). A minority of the
participants ðn ¼ 280Þ was informed about the study at the
beginning of a lecture at their school.
The 54 e-mail lists that we targeted had a total of
approximately 16,000 subscribed members, and the edu-
cational institutes that posted messages on their communi-
cation boards had a total of approximately 4000 students.
Since no data is available on how many people were reached
by the recruitment message, the response rate cannot be
reliably calculated.
The participants were told that the study concerned
beliefs, personality, and cognition. Our names and contact
information were available in the recruitment message sent
out to the mailing lists. In the message, a hyperlink to the
Internet questionnaire was included. Confidentiality and
the voluntary nature of participation were stressed, and the
respondents were given between 1 and 3 weeks time to
participate in the study.
The respondents were informed that by taking part, they
had a chance of winning a 50e boat trip for two to the city of
Tallinn. All participants were also promised feedback on
their responses approximately 2 months after their partici-
pation in the study, which would require them to reveal their
pseudonym, but not their identity. Such feedback, requested
by and given to about one third of the participants, consisted
of a general description of the phenomena studied, absolute
scale ranges and means, and the participant’s own score on
each of the scales. Efforts were made to be especially
prudent in the choice of words, and to stress that the results
were based on how the respondent had described him or
herself to us.
67
The web survey was implemented as a Java Servlet,
running on an Apache web server and a Tomcat application
server. The survey was placed in a hidden directory where it
was unavailable to casual browsers. All questionnaire data
and answers were stored in a MySQL relational database.
The backups were encrypted with GPG (industry standard
encryption protocol) to ensure confidentiality and all data
transmissions were further encrypted with SSH (industry
standard secure connection protocol).
Measures
Participants were asked to select their eating status from
the following categories: “I am omnivorous”, “I avoid
eating red meat”, “I eat only fish and vegetarian food”, “I am
a vegetarian”, and “I am a vegan”. The latter three
alternatives were categorized as vegetarians, while first
two alternatives were categorized as omnivores.
Magical beliefs were assessed with the Magical Beliefs
About Food and Health Scale (a in this study ¼ 0.84)
(MFH, Lindeman et al., 2000). The scale includes 17 items
on magical thinking, most of which follow the law of
similarity or contagion. The scale consists of items on
general magical beliefs without any animal content (e.g. ‘If
we don’t somehow clean our bodies, unhealthy toxins
remain in them’) and items on animal products as
contaminants of food or personality (e.g. ‘Vegetarian food
is spoiled if it has been in contact with meat’ and
‘Consumption of meat dulls thinking’), and also five filler
items (e.g. ‘A high fiber diet is healthy’). All statements
were rated on a five-point scale (1 ¼ strongly disagree,
5 ¼ strongly agree). A total score of magical beliefs was
calculated by averaging all the items.
Attitude toward alternative medicine was measured by
asking how well the respondents thought that the 12 listed
treatments heal illnesses and/or promote health. The
treatments were chosen out of those officially categorized
as belonging to alternative medicine (Alternativmedicin-
kommitten, 1989; Eisenberg et al., 1993). They were:
(1) chiropractic treatments, (2) acupuncture, (3) homeop-
athy, (4) nature medicine (e.g. herbs), (5) large doses of
vitamins or micronutrients, (6) treatments of magnetic fields
or Kirlian photography, (7) meditation and/or mental
imagery, (8) stone therapy, (9) color therapy, (10) psychic
healing, (11) macrobiotics, and (12) living, unheated food.
The participants indicated their belief in the treatments on a
six-point scale (0 ¼ I do not know the therapy (scored as 1),
1 ¼ I do not believe in the therapy at all, 5 ¼ I strongly
believe in the efficacy of this treatment). The scores were
averaged into a sum score ða ¼ 0:86Þ:
Negative life events were measured by asking the
participants to mark whether and how many times they
had experienced the following traumatic events: (1) the
death of a close relative or friend, (2) a serious illness of a
close relative or friend, (3) a life-threatening situation, e.g.
an accident or a fire, (4) rape, incest, physical assault or
robbery. Further, the participants were asked to mark how
68 K. Aarnio, M. Lindeman / Appetite 43 (2004) 65–74

Table 1
Correlations between the variables in study 1

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6

MFH beliefs
Gendera 20.17***
Vegetarianismb 0.38*** 20.10***
Alternative medicine 0.44*** 20.14*** 0.10***
Negative life events 0.11*** 0.00 0.02 0.14***
Desire for control 20.03 0.05** 0.05** 0.02 0.12***
Intuitive thinking 0.26*** 20.18*** 0.07*** 0.33*** 0.11*** 0.09***

**p , 0:01; ***p , 0:001:

a
Female gender scored as 1, male gender as 2.
b
Omnivorous diet scored as 1, vegetarian diet as 2.

many, if any, of the following more acute crises situations MFH beliefs, R2 ¼ 0:33; Fð7; 3046Þ ¼ 217:75; p , 0:001
they had recently experienced: (1) menopause or mid-life (Table 2).
crisis (commonly expressed in Finland as a crisis of the 30- It should be noted that while desire for control predicted
or 40-year-olds), (2) divorce, (3) infidelity, (4) children significantly MFH beliefs, these variables did not correlate.
leaving home, (5) notice to quit or unemployment, (6) These results indicated that desire for control was a
economical difficulties, (7) re-qualification or change of suppressor variable, that is, it increased the multiplier R2
profession, (8) some other crisis. The number of experi- only by virtue of its correlations with the other independent
enced traumas and crises were counted together to get the variables (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). Thus, desire for
amount of negative life events. control was a variable that enhanced the importance of the
The desirability of control scale (Burger & Cooper, other IVs because it suppressed irrelevant variance in them.
1979) was used to assess the participants’ motivation to
control events in their lives. The scale includes 20 seven-
point items (1 ¼ The statement doesn’t apply to me at all, Study 2
7 ¼ The statement always applies to me), such as “I prefer a
job where I have a lot of control over what I do and when I Study 2 aimed at extending knowledge about both the
do it” and “I enjoy making my own decisions” (a in this determinants of MFH beliefs and the personal meanings of
study ¼ 0.77). the beliefs, and thereby increasing understanding about why
Intuitive thinking was assessed by the experientiality unfounded food and health beliefs are adopted and
scale of the Rational – Experiential Inventory (REI-R, Pacini maintained. First, we expected MFH beliefs to increase
& Epstein, 1999). The scale consists of 20 five-point items along with eating disorder symptoms because individuals
(1 ¼ strongly disagree, 5 ¼ strongly agree), such as “I like with eating disorders have been shown to be highly anxious
to rely on my intuitive impressions” and “I believe in about getting polluted by food and to fear contagious
trusting my hunches”. The reliability of the scale ðaÞ in this contact even with people they like (Nemeroff & Cavanaugh,
study was 0.85. 1999; Schupak-Neuberg & Nemeroff, 1993) (hypothesis 1).
We also set the same hypotheses as in study 1 with regards
Results and discussion gender (hypothesis 2), vegetarianism (hypothesis 3), posi-
tive attitude toward alternative medicine (hypothesis 4),
Table 1 presents correlations between the variables. As negative life events (hypotheses 6), desire for control
illustrated, MFH beliefs were associated with female
gender, vegetarianism, positive attitude toward alternative Table 2
Multiple regression analysis for variables predicting MFH beliefs in study 1
medicine, negative life events, and intuition. Age did not
correlate with MFH beliefs, r ¼ 0:03; p , 0:04: Variable B b t
Next, a standard multiple regression analysis was
conducted between MFH beliefs as the dependent variable Gendera 20.08 20.07 24.27***
and gender, vegetarianism, attitude toward alternative Vegetarinismb 0.53 0.34 22.45***
Alternative medicine 0.02 0.35 22.23***
medicine, negative life events, desire for control, and
Negative events 0.02 0.07 4.77***
intuitive thinking as independent variables. In addition, Desire for control 20.07 20.07 24.61***
because Keinan (2002) has shown that desire for control Desire for control £ Negative events 0.01 0.00 0.19
mediates the relationship between stress and magical rituals, Intuition 0.10 0.11 6.61***
negative life events £ desire for control interaction ***p , 0:001:
term was added into the analyses. Except the interaction a
Female gender scored as 1, male gender as 2.
b
term, all IVs contributed significantly to the prediction of Omnivorous diet scored as 1, vegetarianism as 2.
 K. Aarnio, M. Lindeman / Appetite 43 (2004) 65–74
(hypothesis 6), interaction of negative life events and
control (hypothesis 7) and intuitive thinking (hypothesis 8).
The second purpose of this study was to examine the
kinds of functions MFH beliefs serve. Although the
importance of functional analyses of magical beliefs has
been acknowledged (e.g. Zusne & Jones, 1989), the
functions have not yet been empirically analyzed. There-
fore, to identify the potential functions of magical beliefs,
we utilized research on the functions of attitudes (Green-
wald, 1989; Herek, 1987; Katz, 1960; Shavitt, 1989, 1990;
Smith, Bruner, & White, 1956; Snyder & DeBono, 1989).
As Abelson and Prentice (1989) have noted, the concepts of
belief and attitude can be used interchangeably in function
research because both of them are typically accompanied by
cognition, affect, and action tendencies.
First, MFH beliefs may serve a control function. They
may help to organize and structure the world in a
meaningful and consistent fashion, imposing control,
order, clarity, and stability on an otherwise potentially
chaotic world of eating and health-related issues. Actually,
many authors have suggested that the control function might
be the main function of magical thinking and other
superstitions (Malinowski, 1948/1984; Nemeroff & Rozin,
2000; Tambiah, 1990; Vyse, 1997). The second function
that MFH beliefs may serve is the social identity function.
People may maintain beliefs and attitudes because they
allow them to establish their social identities by fostering
identification with reference groups (e.g. Vyse, 1997), for
example with proponents of macrobiotics or a group of
vegetarians (see e.g. Kandel & Pelto, 1980). In turn, beliefs
and attitudes serving a value-expressive function convey
concerns important to one’s self-concept. The beliefs thus
allow people to express their own true self, their underlying
values, dispositions, and personality. Beliefs may also have
a self-esteem function in that the belief may associate the
self with positively regarded objects (e.g. organic foods or
gourmet foods) and thus bolster self-esteem. Sometimes,
beliefs and attitudes provide strategies for coping with
anxiety generated by intrapsychic conflict or other undesir-
able or threatening issues. For example, according to Rozin,
Lowery, Imada, and Haidt (1999), food-related disgust
based on magical thinking may help in repressing the idea of
our animalness, that is, disgust may have a defensive
function. Finally, beliefs with a utilitarian function are
thought to help in achieving something positive and
avoiding something negative. This function was clearly
illustrated in a TV document in which an anorectic girl said
that believing that animal products contaminate food is
useful for her because the belief allows her to skip many
meals.
To summarize, there are two purposes of this study: the
first is to portray people who have magical beliefs about
food and health. The second purpose is to examine the order
of perceived importance of six different functions that MFH
beliefs may serve.
69
Method
Participants
Participants were 189 individuals, whose ages ranged
from 18 to 66 years (M ¼ 26:74; SD ¼ 8.88). Of them, 84%
were women, and 75% were full-time students from over ten
fields of study, while the other participants were employed.
Procedure
The participants were recruited from psychology courses
at the University of Helsinki and the Open University of
Helsinki, Finland. The majority of the subjects (91%) were
administered the questionnaires during their lecture time.
To increase the proportion of vegetarians, students who
chose a vegetarian dish in a student restaurant at the
University of Helsinki were asked to participate in the study.
Forty students agreed to participate. Of them, 18 returned
the questionnaire by mail as agreed. All participants were
told that the study concerned personality and attitudes
toward food and health, that participation would be
voluntary, and that all information received would be
confidential.
Measures
MFH beliefs, desirability of control, and intuitive
thinking (as in this study ¼ 0.85, 0.80, and 0.85, respect-
ively), the number of negative life events experienced, and
eating status were measured in the same way as in study 1.
Of all the participants, 79% were omnivores or red-meat
avoiders, and thus labeled omnivores. The rest of the
participants were grouped as vegetarians.
Attitude toward alternative medicine was measured as in
study 1 with only minor changes. The respondents were
asked about the following treatments: (1) chiropractic
treatments, (2) naprapathic treatments, (3) acupuncture,
(4) homeopathy, (5) natural vitamins or other nature cures,
(6) large doses of vitamins, (7) treatments of magnetic fields
or Kirlian photography, (8) primal therapy or Rosen-
therapy, (9) meditation, (10) stone or color therapy, (11)
psychic healing or shamanism, and (12) life style diets.
Three response alternatives were given to the subjects: 1 ¼ I
have never tried this treatment/the treatment is not familiar
to me, 2 ¼ I have received this treatment, 3 ¼ I would like
to try this treatment some day. Participants who responded
with 2 and/or 3 received one score for each item. A summed
score was used in the analyses.
Eating disorder symptoms were assessed by the abbre-
viated version of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT, Garner,
Olmsted, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982) (a in this study ¼ 0.92).
It consists of 26 items about weight, bulimia, and body
image (e.g. ‘Feel extremely guilty after eating’ and ‘Find
myself preoccupied with food’), which are evaluated on a
six-point scale (1 ¼ never, 6 ¼ always). As the authors
have suggested, points 6, 5, and 4 were turned into points 3,
2, and 1 (respectively) and points under 4 were counted as
0 points. In the analyses, the mean score was used.
70 K. Aarnio, M. Lindeman / Appetite 43 (2004) 65–74

Table 3 repeated along with instructions to fill in the Function

Example items and reliabilities of the subscales measuring functions of
MFH beliefs
Function Cronbach’s Example items
alpha ðaÞ
Control 0.76 1. Because of these beliefs, my opinions
about food and health are clear
2. These beliefs have clarified my view
of the world
Social identity 0.83 1. It is important for me to belong to a
group of people who think in this way
2. It is important to the people closest to
me that I think this way
Value-expressive 0.92 1. My beliefs reflect my personal values
2. My beliefs are essentially associated
with my personal identity
Self-esteem 0.87 1. My beliefs give me a feeling that I am
a good person
2. If I thought otherwise, my self-worth
would be lower
Defensive 0.90 1. My beliefs help me to cope with
emotional issues
2. My beliefs protect me from some
anxiety
Utilitarian 0.80 1. My beliefs can be useful to me in
some way
2. I might avoid something negative by
thinking like this
Functions of MFH beliefs were assessed with a Function
Scale. It included six five-point items (1 ¼ does not reflect my
opinions at all, 5 ¼ reflects my opinions very well) for each of the
six functions (i.e. control, social identity, value-expressive, self-
esteem, defensive, and utilitarian function). The scale was
developed on the basis of Herek’s (1987) Attitude Functions
Inventory, Shavitt’s (1990) Coding Scheme for Attitude
Functions, and the literature on attitude functions (e.g. Katz,
1960; Smith et al., 1956). Examples of the items and reliabilities
for the six function subscales are presented in Table 3. The
reliabilities were examined by item analysis, but there were no
items whose removal would have improved the reliabilities.
The Function Scale was presented after the MFH Scale,
and six example statements of the MFH Scale were
Scale if the participant agreed at least partly with any of
the example statements. The participants evaluated
separately the functions of two items on general
magical beliefs, two items on animal products as food
contaminants and two items on animal products as
personality contaminants. The results were similar for all
three kinds of items. Therefore, the sum scores for each
function were calculated by averaging the items across the
three areas of MFH beliefs. Of the participants, 59
agreed with the statements presented and filled in the
Function Scale.
Results
The results showed that MFH beliefs correlated posi-
tively with vegetarianism, positive attitude toward alterna-
tive medicine, symptoms of eating disorders, and intuition
(Table 4). Age did not correlate with MFH beliefs, r ¼ 0:11;
ns. A standard multiple regression analysis indicated that
the same variables that correlated with MFH beliefs also
predicted them, although the contribution of intuition was
only marginally significant, R2 ¼ 0:34; Fð8; 150Þ ¼ 9:18;
p , 0:001 (Table 5).
The importance of the various functions of MFH beliefs
was analyzed with one-way within-participants ANOVA,
followed by planned pair-wise comparisons. Because the
Mauchley’s test of sphericity showed that sphericity could
not be assumed, we used an epsilon-corrected test. The
Greenhouse-Geisser test showed that the functions differed
significantly from each other, Fð3:846; 223:075Þ ¼ 34:18;
p , 0:001; h2 ¼ 0:371: The results of the pairwise tests
indicated that the most important function was the value-
expressive function (M ¼ 2:99; SD ¼ 0.13), which was
assessed as more important than the control (M ¼ 2:72;
SD ¼ 0.10), utilitarian (M ¼ 2:53; SD ¼ 0.09), self-esteem
(M ¼ 2:34; SD ¼ 0.12), defensive (M ¼ 2:06; SD ¼ 0.10)
and social identity functions (M ¼ 1:94; SD ¼ 0.09), all
p , 0:02: The control function was rated as second in
importance, and it differed significantly from all the other
functions ðp , 0:02Þ except for the utilitarian function (ns).

Table 4
Correlations between the variables in study 2

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

MFH beliefs
Gendera 20.12
Vegetarianismb 0.32*** 20.13
Alternative medicine 0.39*** 20.02 0.08
Negative life events 0.13 0.04 0.07 0.19*
Desire for control 0.10 0.08 20.03 0.06 0.20**
Intuitive thinking 0.21** 20.19** 0.06 0.26*** 0.18* 0.06
Eating disorder Symptoms 0.24*** 20.11 2 0.04 0.15 0.12 0.06 0.02

*p , 0:05; **p , 0:01; ***p , 0:001.

a
Female gender scored as 1, male gender as 2.
b
Omnivorous diet scored as 1, vegetarian diet as 2.
 K. Aarnio, M. Lindeman / Appetite 43 (2004) 65–74
Table 5
Multiple regression analysis for variables predicting MFH beliefs in study 2
Variable B b
Gendera 0.02 0.01
Vegetarinismb 0.50 0.36
Alternative medicine 0.07 0.34
Negative events 0.00 20.01
Desire for control 20.03 20.03
Desire for control £ Negative events 0.01 0.02
Intuition 0.13 0.13
Eating disorder symptoms 0.20 0.17
þ p , 0:06; *p , 0:05; ***p , 0:001.
a
Female gender scored as 1, male gender as 2.
b
Omnivorous diet scored as 1, vegetarianism as 2.
The utilitarian function differed significantly from the other
functions ðp , 0:012Þ excluding the control and the self-
esteem functions (ns). Further, the self-esteem function
differed significantly from all other functions ðp , 0:012Þ
except the utilitarian function (ns). Finally, the social
identity and defensive functions were rated as the least
import of all the functions, and their ratings did not differ
significantly from each other (ns).
The correlations between the functions ranged from 0.32
ðp , 0:05Þ to 0.80 ðp , 0:001Þ: The highest correlation was
between the value-expressive and control function.
General discussion
According to the results, the average person maintaining
MFH beliefs was a woman and a vegetarian, thought in a
more intuitive way, demonstrated more eating-disordered
thinking, relied more on alternative medicine, and to a
smaller degree, had experienced more negative life events
than the average nonbeliever. The believers reported their
MFH beliefs to serve a value-expressive function more than
any of the other functions. The second most important
functions were those of control, utilitarianism, and self-
esteem, while the social identity and defensive functions
were reported less frequently.
That vegetarianism, eating-disordered thinking, and
positive attitude toward alternative medicine predicted
MFH beliefs was in line with our hypothesis. What unite
these three issues are not so much a matter of knowledge
about food or health but rather an affective avoidance of
certain substances not avoided by others. Many vegetarians
avoid animal products not only because of health reasons
but also because of animal ethics, ecological reasons, and
disgust (Amato & Partridge, 1989; Beardsworth & Keil,
1992; Fessler et al., 2003; Rozin et al., 1997). Likewise,
individuals with symptoms of eating disorders avoid many
foods because of their calories and fat content, and also
because of feelings of disgust and fear (Harvey, Troop,
Treasure, & Murphy, 2002; Nemeroff & Cavanaugh, 1999;
Schupak-Neuberg & Nemeroff, 1993). In turn, unlike
71
the majority of people who use only conventional medicine,
individuals with positive attitude toward alternative medi-
t cine avoid preservatives, artificial additives, and unspecified
toxins (Astin, 1998; Gilovich, 1991; Hines, 1988).
0.15 That MFH beliefs might be related to approach and
5.36*** avoidance behavior, rather than making true – false distinc-
4.87*** tions about food and nutrition, was further supported by the
20.18
findings that MFH beliefs increased together with intuitive
20.46
0.23 thinking, which, by definition, is characterized by affective
1.91 þ information processing and guidance of approach – avoid-
2.48* ance behavior (Epstein, 1990; Haidt, 2001). Thus, magical
beliefs may not stem only from cognitive mistakes which
have been shown to be explanations of some magical beliefs
(Gilovich, 1991; Hines, 1988; Vyse, 1997), but may also
derive from affective processes and subsequent judgments.
In addition to the positive association between intuitive
thinking and MFH beliefs, the following results also support
this notion: the participants agreed that their food and health
beliefs help them to achieve something positive and to avoid
something negative in that they rated the utilitarian function
as the second most important function and the expression of
personal values and ideals as the most important function of
their beliefs. Given that researchers have typically failed to
mention the value-expressive function as a function of
magical beliefs, this result was somewhat unexpected.
However, beliefs with a value-expressive function have
distinct properties that link them to approach – avoidance
behavior: they evoke strong emotions in the individual and
are related to more fundamental values (Abelson &
Prentice, 1989). Values and emotions, in turn, are
constructions by which people evaluate things and make
good – bad distinctions; they guide the individual to
approach issues that create positive feelings and to avoid
issues that cause negative feelings (Gohm & Clore, 2000;
Rohan, 2000; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987).
A slight connection between MFH beliefs and negative
life experiences was found in study 1, while no connection
was found in study 2. The positive association between
MFH beliefs and negative life events like divorce or
unemployment may even seem curious but the hypothesis
was based on earlier findings, which have shown that
traditional superstitions increase along with crises, stress,
and frightening situations (Keinan, 1994, 2002; Lillqvist &
Lindeman, 1998; Padgett & Jorgenson, 1982). One of the
explanations of magical thinking is that it provides reasons
for phenomena that are otherwise inexplicable and unfami-
liar (Bronowski, 1978; Vyse, 1997). Besides the relations
between negative life events and MFH beliefs, another one
of our results is in line with this explanation: when the
participants of study 2 were asked about the functions their
beliefs served, they rated the control function as the second
most important function stating that their beliefs had
clarified and organized their views of the world, nature,
people, and health. Thus, the participants’ views on the
functions of their magical beliefs paralleled many research-
ers’ (Malinowski, 1948/1984; Nemeroff & Rozin, 2000;
72 K. Aarnio, M. Lindeman / Appetite 43 (2004) 65–74
Tambiah, 1990; Vyse, 1997) assumptions that magical
beliefs are experienced as clarifying and interpreting
different things, therefore making the world appear
organized, predictable and controllable. Accordingly, a
person whose life is stressful and who wants some order into
the chaos may turn to simple instructions marketed as the
‘truth’, such as instructions on eating a whole watermelon a
day to keep the kidneys clean (a suggestion by Billings,
1997).
Had we measured the food- and health-related worries
instead of general kinds of negative life experiences, we
might have found a stronger connection between negative
events and MFH beliefs. This seems possible given that two
of the characteristics connected to increased nutritional
concerns and health worries, namely, female gender and
eating disorder symptoms (Rozin et al., 1999) were also
characteristic of the believers of MFH beliefs in our two
studies. However, our results did not replicate the finding
that the relationship between MFH beliefs and stressful
situations is mediated by desire for control (Keinan, 2002).
Before concluding, a major limitation of our research
should be mentioned. The results concerning the functions
of the beliefs are tentative firstly because the function results
were based on the respondents’ self-reports, and thus only
conscious functions were tapped. This might explain why
the participants rated the defensive function among the least
important functions of their beliefs. Second, the small
number of participants who responded to the function scale
restricts the results of the functions of the beliefs. Thus, it is
important to supplement these findings by research with a
larger sample of participants, and to analyze the overlapping
functions more specifically.
The results suggest that unfounded food and health
beliefs are adopted and hold in the realm of emotions,
intuition, approach – avoidance behavior, values, and iden-
tity. As such, the results extend the findings about food
choice which have shown that what is eaten and what
avoided also indicate the eater’s values and identity
(Fischler, 1988; Furst, Connors, Bisogni, Sobal, & Winter
Falk, 1996; Lindeman & Sirelius, 2001; Lindeman & Stark,
1999, 2000).
Even though food beliefs and food choice thus seem to be
emotionally laden, much of the nutritional and health
maintenance information provided to people has tradition-
ally been based on scientific arguments, which include
rational, abstract and objective concepts, such as nutrients
and probabilities. While not suggesting an abandonment of
factual information, our results point at a need for a more
affective approach in educating about nutritional issues.
This view is supported by the results that traditional
nutritional knowledge and food choice behavior are only
moderately connected to each other (Wardle, 1993). We
suggest that changing or preventing unfounded beliefs about
food, dieting, and health would not be best achieved through
mere scientific arguments, but by taking into account the
emotional, value-related side of these issues. We further
suggest that affective information on food and health may be
especially effective for women, vegetarians, people with a
positive attitude toward alternative medicine, and people
with eating disorder symptoms, that is, to people who are
most prone to MFH beliefs.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by grants from the Finnish
Cultural Foundation (no. 00020204) and the Academy of
Finland (no. 200828).
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