Answering the ‘Foodie Call’

Study shows many women are dating for dinners

For people who are horny in the middle of the night, they may be seduced by the lure of the booty call. But for some women, the early evening hours are for what has been dubbed the “foodie call” — the practice of going on dates with men they have no real romantic interest in just to get a free meal.

In a study conducted by Azusa Pacific University and UC Merced, researchers asked a series of questions to 357 heterosexual women to gauge their beliefs about gender roles, as well as determine their personality traits and propensity to participate in foodie calls. They found that 33 percent of participants had at least one foodie call in their dating history.

“They could be more prevalent, for instance, if women lied or misremembered their foodie calls to maintain a positive view of their dating history.”

In another study, 820 participants — 40 percent single, 33 percent married, and 27 percent in committed unmarried relationships — also had their personalities assessed and were asked about their foodie call histories and gender role opinions. In this group of women, 23 percent admitted they had engaged in at least one foodie call, and those who did believed this practice was acceptable dating behavior. The women who did not have foodie calls reported they found this practice moderately to highly unacceptable.

Researchers noted that it may be difficult to get a true idea of how many women are having foodie calls because this study was based on self-reporting.

“They could be more prevalent, for instance, if women lied or misremembered their foodie calls to maintain a positive view of their dating history,” explained researcher Brian Collisson.

“Several dark traits have been linked to deceptive and exploitative behavior in romantic relationships….”

In addition, the study, which was published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, found that those who had foodie calls were more likely to believe in traditional gender roles than those who did not. This group was also more likely to have high scores on the “dark triad” of personality traits — narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.

“Several dark traits have been linked to deceptive and exploitative behavior in romantic relationships, such as one-night stands, faking an orgasm, or sending unsolicited sexual pictures,” Collisson said.

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Sources:

Anderer, J. (2019, June 21). The Foodie Call: Third Of Women Admit To Dating For Free Meal, Research Finds. Study Finds. https://www.studyfinds.org/foodie-call-third-women-admit-dating-for-free-meal/

Foodie Calls: Dating For a Free Meal (Rather Than a Relationship). Society for Personality and Social Psychology. https://www.spsp.org/news-center/press-releases/collisson-foodie-calls