WASHINGTON — Who says chivalry is dead? A new trend has emerged on the dating scene in which a person schedules a date with someone they aren’t really interested in, just to get a free meal. The tactic has been dubbed a “foodie call,” and while it sounds absolutely ridiculous at first consideration, new research reveals it is happening quite often.

Researchers at Azusa Pacific University and UC Merced had 357 heterosexual women answer a series of questions about their personalities, thoughts on traditional gender roles, and their personal foodie call histories. Interestingly, 33% of the participants admitted to engaging in at least one foodie call.

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A second study was also performed, this time on 820 women. Of the women collected, 85% reported being heterosexual, and they were used as the focus of the study. Respondents were asked a similar set of questions as the first group, and 23% acknowledged participating in a foodie call. It’s worth noting that most of the women surveyed believed a foodie call was anywhere from moderately to extremely unacceptable.

Among both groups of women, those who admitted to foodie calls scored higher in the “dark triad” (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) of personality traits. Women who expressed belief in more traditional gender roles were also more likely to engage in a foodie call.

“Several dark traits have been linked to deceptive and exploitative behavior in romantic relationships, such as one-night stands, faking an orgasm, or sending unsolicited sexual pictures,” explains co-researcher Brian Collisson in a release by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Researchers also made it a point to note that foodie calls can happen in many types of relationships, and could be performed by any gender.

The study is released in Social Psychological and Personality Science.

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