Editing Multivitamin (section)

=== Ethnographic research ===
[[Ethnography|Ethnographic research]] has investigated possible reasons behind the widespread use of multivitamins in societies where scientific knowledge is dominant, despite the limited empirical evidence supporting new products.<ref name="McCabe_2012">{{Cite journal | vauthors = McCabe M, Fabri A |date= April 2012 |title=Vitamin Practices and Ideologies of Health and the Body |url=https://articlegateway.com/index.php/IJBA/article/view/1170 |journal=International Journal of Business Anthropology |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |doi=10.33423/ijba.v3i1.1170 |issn=2155-6237}}</ref><ref name="Nichter_2006">{{cite journal | vauthors = Nichter M, Thompson JJ | title = For my wellness, not just my illness: North Americans' use of dietary supplements | journal = Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry | volume = 30 | issue = 2 | pages = 175–222 | date = June 2006 | pmid = 16841188 | doi = 10.1007/s11013-006-9016-0 }}</ref> The findings reveal various socio-cultural factors contributing to their common use, including:

* Harm reduction: The cultural belief that multivitamins can mitigate risks associated with unhealthy lifestyles, conventional medicines, deficient diets, harmful environmental influences, or genetic predispositions.<ref name="McCabe_2012" />
* Personal agency: The desire to gain control over one’s body and well-being.<ref name="McCabe_2012" /><ref name="Nichter_2006" />
* Social proof: The perception of multivitamins’ effectiveness based on the experiences and behavior of friends, family and community members.<ref name="McCabe_2012" /><ref name="Nichter_2006" />
* Social belonging: Marketing strategies that promote identity-building by targeting specific age groups, genders, or personal interests.<ref name="Nichter_2006" />
* [[Biopolitics]]: The pursuit of productivity and reliability, as framed by capitalist societal expectations.<ref name="McCabe_2012" />

From anthropological and psychological perspectives, the widespread consumption of multivitamins can be seen as an example of 'magical thinking,' a form of reasoning that seeks to explain phenomena through non-scientific means, distinct from 'irrational thinking’.<ref name="McCabe_2012" /><ref>{{Cite book | vauthors = Taylor M |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Imagination |date=2013-08-01 |publisher=Oxford Library of Psychology |isbn=9780199983032}}</ref>