Predictors of attitudes towards genetically modified foods among university students: Gender, environmentalism, and food neophobia

Understanding university students' attitudes regarding genetically modified foods (GMOs) and the factors that influence their attitudes is crucial for both academic and societal contexts. This research aimed to identify the determinants of university students' attitudes towards GMOs, specifically examining the influence of gender, food neophobia, and environmental awareness as predictors. The study conducted a cross-sectional analytical face-to-face interview technique with students from December 2024 to January 2025. The questionnaire included socio-demographic data, general eating habits, the Attitude Towards Genetically Modified Organisms Scale, the Food Neophobia Scale, and the environmentalism sub-dimension of the Lifestyle of Healthy and Sustainable Scale. The majority of participants (75.2%) were female, while 24.8% were male. The mean age of the participants was 21.7±1.5 years, and their mean BMI was 23.1±3.7 kg/m². In response to inquiries on legal regulations concerning GMOs in Türkiye, 21.6% of females and 17.1% of males affirmed the existence of such regulations (p<0.05). The mean overall score on the attitude scale towards GMOs was 75.6±11.8 for females and 72.2±15.0 for males. The environmentalism subscale of the healthy and sustainable living scale had a mean score of 30.4±5.4 for females and 28.7±6.7 for males. In contrast, the total score of the food neophobia scale was 40.6±9.9 and 38.6±9, respectively. Gender significantly moderated the correlation between environmentalism and GMO total scores (B=0.521, SE=0.201, p=0.010, ΔR²=0.012). The conditional effect analysis revealed that the impact of environmentalism scores on GMO totals was significant for both females (B=0.938, SE=0.115, p<0.001) and males (B=1.460, SE=0.164, p<0.001). It is believed that university students' attitudes on GMOs are not sufficiently positive; however, their high level of environmental consciousness and propensity for food neophobic behaviour. To more precisely represent social opinions and behaviours, gender should be used as a moderating variable in research or treatments concerning GMO attitudes.