Supporting data for “Governing Food Waste in China: Policy Evolution, International Lessons, and Moral-behavioral Gaps in Urban Consumption"

<p dir="ltr">This dataset stems from an exploratory sequential mixed-methods study investigating food waste behavior among university students in the context of online food delivery. The research introduces a novel situational morality framework, which conceptualizes food waste decisions as a dynamic negotiation between internal moral norms and external situational pressures—such as peer influence, promotional strategies, and environmental constraints. Rather than treating collectivism merely as a moral motivator, the study reveals its dual role: while it can strengthen moral obligations toward reducing waste, it may also lead to “inefficient collectivism,” where group dynamics inadvertently result in higher levels of food waste. The data were collected through in-depth interviews and structured questionnaire surveys, capturing both qualitative insights and quantitative measures related to students’ ordering habits, perceived barriers, moral attitudes, and actual waste outcomes. The provided data files include survey responses and aggregated thematic codes from interviews, suitable for analyzing psychological and situational predictors of food waste behavior.</p>