Seeing oneself as a healthy eater: psychological factors underlying the perception of healthy eating and its alignment with actual diet quality

Abstract This study investigates the psychological factors shaping Perceived Habitual Dietary Healthfulness (PHDH) and its alignment with Healthy Dietary Pattern Adherence (HDPA), addressing the critical gap between self-perception and actual behaviour. A survey of 1,000 Italian adults found that PHDH is significantly driven by Healthy Self-Identity, Self-Monitoring, and Subjective Knowledge, but was only weakly associated with HDPA. To clarify the nature of this discrepancy, we analysed the profile of the incoherent segment (high PHDH, low HDPA). Comparative results show that the incoherent group exhibits significantly lower Healthy Self-Identity and Cooking Skills, a pattern most pronounced among younger and male respondents. These findings indicate that the perception–behaviour gap is not merely a cognitive bias but reflects a specific configuration of weaker identity integration and limited practical competence, providing new evidence on the psychological roots of inaccurate dietary self-assessment.