Food waste is a critical challenge for global sustainable development. Existing studies have largely focused primarily on individualistic approaches and often overlooked the roles of shared responsibility and relational norms in collectivistic cultures. In China, dining out is common among young adults, whose food consumption and waste behaviours are shaped by the interplay between traditional collectivistic values and emerging individualism and consumerism. Young Chinese adults comprise an important cohort for understanding how culture shapes individuals' food waste behaviour as they navigate the complexity of shifting values.
The present study aims to examine how young Chinese adults perceive their responsibility in dining contexts and how this perception affects food waste-related behaviours. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and cultural psychology, it investigates how social norms guide food responsibility judgments which, in turn, affect decisions regarding ordering, leftover packaging, and speaking up behaviour when dining alone and with others.
To test these associations, approximately 400 young Chinese adults aged 18 and 30 years will be recruited through an online survey to measure behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived responsibility, and culturally relevant norms. A follow-up survey will record participants' food ordering and disposal behaviours. Data will be analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) to identify key pathways linking cultural norms, perceived responsibility, and behavioural outcomes.
This research is expected to show that cultural norms influence food waste behaviour differently across dining contexts. When dining alone, decisions involve internal negotiation with limited social influence whereas dining with friends activates multiple conflicting norms that evoke cognitive tension manifested through food responsibility sharing and speaking-up behaviour. These insights will contribute to social psychological theory on culturally embedded behaviour and inform culturally sensitive interventions to reduce food waste.