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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Yes, some people say they have accepted a date mainly for the meal—but the evidence does not show that this is uniquely a Gen Z habit or that it is becoming more common. Researchers call it a “foodie call”: agreeing to a date despite lacking romantic attraction in order to get a free meal. The best-known figures come from different surveys with different questions, so they should not be treated as one clean estimate of how often it happens.
What is a “foodie call”?
In their 2020 paper, first published online in 2019, Brian Collisson, Jennifer L. Howell, and Trista Harig defined a foodie call as a date accepted despite a lack of romantic attraction in order to receive a free meal. The term describes a reported motive; it is not simply a label for someone who declines a second date or does not feel a connection.
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The researchers asked women about their own behavior. Their two U.S. survey samples found that 23–33% of women surveyed reported having engaged in a foodie call. That range describes results across those samples, not the share of all women, all daters, or Gen Z who do it.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →What do the surveys say about Gen Z?
A 2025 DatingAdvice.com report says it surveyed 1,016 U.S. adults. It reports that 30% of daters had accepted a romantic dinner invitation mainly for the free meal, and gives a figure of 32% for Gen Z and zillennial daters. These are publisher-reported survey results, not estimates from the original peer-reviewed study. The accessible report does not establish all of the sampling and question details needed to judge how representative the figures are.
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A November 9, 2025 opinion column by Haley Taylor Schlitz in the Minnesota Star Tribune cites a separate figure: 31% of Gen Z singles had gone on a date mostly for the free meal. The column attributes that number to a recent money-and-dating study, but the available excerpt does not provide enough detail to independently assess the underlying study. It should not be merged with DatingAdvice.com’s 32% figure.
Taken together, the reports give the Gen Z framing some support: surveys have found substantial numbers of younger respondents reporting the behavior. They do not establish that Gen Z does it more often than older generations in a directly comparable study, or that the behavior is increasing over time.
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Why the percentages are not directly comparable
The figures come from studies that differ in who was surveyed, what respondents were asked, and what the researchers were trying to measure.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors| Study or report | Who was surveyed | What the figure measures | Reported result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collisson, Howell, and Harig, Social Psychological and Personality Science (online 2019; issue April 2020) | Women in two U.S. survey samples | Whether respondents reported ever engaging in a foodie call | 23–33% across the study samples |
| Orhan and coauthors, Psychological Reports (online 2023; issue April 2025) | 1,838 valid survey submissions from heterosexual women in Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States | Foodie-call behavior and its perceived acceptability, including an “ever” behavior question | No single prevalence figure is stated here as directly comparable with the original range |
| DatingAdvice.com (2025) | 1,016 U.S. adults, according to the report | Accepting a romantic dinner invitation mainly for the free meal | 30% of daters overall; 32% of Gen Z and zillennial daters |
| Haley Taylor Schlitz, Minnesota Star Tribune opinion column (November 9, 2025) | Underlying survey details are not established in the available column excerpt | Going on a date mostly for the free meal, as described in the column | 31% of Gen Z singles, attributed to a separate money-and-dating study |
The replication’s behavior question was: “Have you ever agreed to date someone (who you were not interested in a relationship with) because he might pay for your meal?” Its wording frames the question around women dating men; it is not a universal measure across genders or relationship types. Differences in wording and samples make it unsafe to read these numbers as a time series or rank age groups from one survey to another.
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What might explain the behavior?
The original study examined personality measures, traditional gender-role beliefs, online dating history, and reported behavior. Its findings included associations involving Dark Triad measures and gender-role beliefs. An association does not show that a trait causes someone to accept a date for a meal.
Orhan and coauthors’ registered replication and extension, published in Psychological Reports in April 2025 after appearing online in 2023, found that gender-role beliefs best predicted foodie calls and their perceived acceptability overall; the Dark Triad general factor was not statistically significant. Results varied by country: the authors reported replication of the original findings in the United Kingdom and Poland, while in the U.S. only narcissism predicted foodie calls; U.S. gender-role beliefs predicted perceived acceptability. These are survey associations, not proof of why an individual acted as they did.
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What the evidence can—and cannot—tell you
- It can show that respondents report the behavior. Both the foundational studies and recent survey reporting describe people saying they accepted a date mainly to receive a meal.
- It cannot establish a reliable trend across generations or time. The available figures use different samples and measures, and do not provide a directly comparable repeated measure.
- It cannot reveal a date’s motive from one outcome. A person not wanting another date, or not feeling romantic interest afterward, is not evidence by itself that they accepted the first date deceptively.
- It does not cover every kind of dating relationship. The original research and the replication’s behavior question are framed around women dating men; broader conclusions about all genders and relationship types would go beyond those measures.
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