Food as an emotional and identity space in times of uncertainty

Abstract

Aim: To explore the role of food in emotional regulation and its influence on shaping personal and social identity in contemporary society, and to examine how stress, emotional insecurity, and the fast pace of life contribute to the consumption of comfort foods, and how such practices serve as mechanisms for coping, identity stabilization, and belonging.
Methods: This qualitative study was based on semi-structured interviews with 20 adult participants from Šibenik and the surrounding area. The interviews were transcribed verbatim. We used Braun and Clarke’s reflexive approach to thematic analysis, whereby two-member research team developed the final themes manually using a multi-step abductive coding approach.
Findings: The analysis revealed three central themes: 1) emotional regulation through food and a sense of belonging, 2) ambivalence toward comfort food and the crisis of belonging, and 3) food as a link to identity and childhood, and the crisis of belonging. Food functions beyond physiological sustenance; it operates as a symbolic medium through which emotions, identity, and social belonging are expressed, negotiated, and stabilized. Emotional eating emerges as a mechanism for maintaining continuity and security amid social uncertainty. Conversely, a structuralist framework highlights deeper cultural and social structures that shape dietary practices through binary oppositions (e.g., permitted/forbidden, clean/unclean), and through norms related to gender, control, and health. Thus, food becomes a space where individual emotional needs and collective social expectations are negotiated.
Conclusions: Food functions simultaneously as a means of emotional regulation, a symbolic marker of personal identity, and a vehicle for cultural belonging. These findings highlight the complexity of eating behaviors in uncertain contemporary environments and underscore the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to food, emotion, and identity studies.