Work

A taste of (dis)trust: do social cynicism and gratitude predict and reciprocate addiction-like eating?

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Addiction-like eating, characterized by impaired impulse control over food consumption and intense food cravings, is closely linked to overweight and poses both physical and mental health risks. Drawing on a social cognitive perspective, this study examined whether and how social beliefs (i.e., social cynicism) and social emotions (i.e., gratitude) are associated with addiction-like eating and tested their longitudinal interplay. A two-wave longitudinal survey with a six-month interval was administered via an online crowdsourcing platform in mainland China. At Wave 1 (W1), the sample comprised 1448 adults (50% females, Mage = 32.46 years, SD = 7.72), of whom 660 remained at Wave 2 (W2). Cross-lagged panel modeling was conducted to examine the reciprocal associations among social cynicism, gratitude, and addiction-like eating over time. Social cynicism at W1 predicted higher levels of addiction-like eating at W2 (β = 0.07, p = .008), and vice versa (β = 0.08, p = .012). Gratitude at W1 predicted lower addiction-like eating at W2 (β = –0.10, p < .001), whereas W1 addiction-like eating predicted reduced W2 gratitude (β = –0.05, p = .031). Moreover, a significant unidirectional path was observed from gratitude at W1 to reduced W2 social cynicism (β = –0.16, p < .001). Findings revealed a bidirectional link between lower gratitude/higher social cynicism and greater risks of addiction-like eating. Targeted intervention strategies such as gratitude-centered reappraisal may serve as a complement to traditional symptom-focused approaches in addressing addiction-like eating patterns. This study explored the associations among peoples’ social views, social emotions, and addiction-like eating, which is linked to overweight and poor health. We investigated whether having distrustful beliefs about others (known as social cynicism) and feeling grateful are related to addiction-like eating over time. Through two surveys conducted six months apart with adults in China, we found bidirectionality between these factors. Specifically, holding negative, cynical beliefs about society predicted a higher risk of addictive eating six months later, and conversely, addictive eating also led people to become more socially cynical. Meanwhile, feeling grateful showed a protective effect, predicting a lower risk of such eating later on, and not having these eating patterns also helped people maintain gratitude. Furthermore, we found that being grateful can help reduce negative social beliefs. Overall, the research suggests lower gratitude and higher social cynicism may enhance a greater risk of addiction-like eating, and the latter may also reinforce the former over time. This highlights the potential of fostering gratitude and positive social beliefs to prevent addiction-like eating.

Source: Journal of Eating Disorders

DOI: 10.1186/s40337-026-01586-x