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Don't mind if I do: Disinhibited eating under cognitive load
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Abstract
Past research has shown that strong emotional or motivational states can cause normally restrained eaters to overeat. In this article it is argued that simple cognitive load can also disinhibit eating by restrained eaters. Two studies examined this disinhibition effect. In Study 1, restrained and unrestrained eaters were given the opportunity to consume high-calorie food while performing either a high cognitive-load or low cognitive-load task. Restrained eaters consumed more food when under high cognitive load than when under low cognitive load; unrestrained eaters showed the opposite pattern. Study 2 replicated the disinhibition effect and ruled out stress, diminished awareness of food consumption, and ironic rebound as probable mediators. Results suggest that cognitive load may disinhibit consumption by preventing restrained eaters from monitoring the dietary consequences of their eating behavior. Implications for theories of self-regulation are discussed.
... Over the last five decades, research has demonstrated that a variety of factors can cause restrained eaters to abandon their restriction and engage in disinhibited eating. The consumption of an initial high-calorie or diet-breaking food, commonly referred to as a preload [6,7], the experience of negative and positive mood states [8][9][10], a high cognitive load [11], and the consumption of alcohol [12] have all been shown to lead dieters-but not non-dieters-to engage in overindulgence when they are subsequently presented with highly-palatable food to eat. The range of factors that have been identified as disinhibitors suggest that restrained eaters are highly susceptible to disinhibited eating. ...
... Eligibility was limited to these countries due to the existence of a similar societal pressure across Western nations for women to strive towards a thin-body ideal. Female participants were recruited based on the understanding that dieting is more common among women than men [31], the psychological consequences of dieting are particularly pervasive among women [4], and because most previous research on dietary restraint has focused on women [6,[8][9][10][11][12][32][33][34][35][36]. Furthermore, research that has been conducted to develop, validate, support, and critique the original measures of rigid and flexible control has recruited samples that are either entirely or predominantly female [15, 19-22, 24, 25, 27-29, 37]. ...
... The Strict Behaviours subscale may be particularly useful in future research to identify participants who are likely to display a 'what the hell' attitude following a diet transgression [13]. It would be interesting to examine whether this subscale explains overindulgent eating in situations where dieters lack the cognitive capacity to implement their strict dieting regime, such as completing tasks under a high cognitive load, or under the influence of alcohol [11,12]. ...
Background
Many dieters show a pattern of disinhibited eating following a diet violation, and it has been proposed that the nature of their dietary restraint (i.e., whether they are rigid or flexible in their pursuit of dietary control) could prove beneficial in explaining variability in the occurrence of disinhibited eating. However, existing measures of rigid and flexible control do not adequately separate these two styles of dietary restraint.
Method
The current studies aim to develop a new scale that more clearly differentiates the constructs of rigid and flexible control of eating. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to develop and validate the new scale across three distinct samples of women (total N = 1048).
Results
Factor analysis identified five total factors: three relating to the rigid control of food intake (Strict Behaviours, Negative Emotions, and Worry), and two relating to the flexible control of food intake (Flexible Beliefs and Positive Emotions). The Flexible or Rigid Control of Eating Scale (FORCES) had good internal consistency, a reliable factor structure that replicated across the three samples of women and provided a clear separation between rigid and flexible control.
Conclusions
The FORCES may allow researchers to explain why some dieters are more likely to engage in disinhibited eating than are others and can be a beneficial step toward addressing the negative consequences of maladaptive dieting behaviour.
... However, these studies have yet to specifically examine the effects of cognitive load on eating behaviour. In the fields of psychology and nutritional science, researchers have induced stress and cognitive load in laboratory conditions and assessed their impact using self-reported questionnaires, focusing on various eating outcomes, such as the consumption of unhealthy snacks and high-calorie foods [19,20]. It is worth noting that these studies, which investigate the relationship between cognitive load and eating behaviours in laboratory settings, rely on subjective measures, highlighting the need for validating cognitive load outcomes with objective measures. ...
... In this task, the subjects were asked to say the colour of the string, not what the string said; the game is as demonstrated in Figure 2. In this study, restrained eaters ate significantly more than unrestrained eaters after Stroop tasks with ego threat (identifying the colour each string was printed in as quickly as possible using the red, green, blue, or yellow buttons on a response pad). Ward et al. conducted two experiments to examine the effects of HL on restrained and unrestrained eaters [20]. The first experiment found that restrained eaters ate more during HL tasks. ...
... Studies in cognitive student engagement assessment [61] and emotion classification [62] have also faced similar challenges with small sample sizes. Furthermore, it is important to consider the findings of previous studies in nutrition science and psychology, which have demonstrated that cognitive load can indeed impact calorie consumption [19,20,35,36]. While our study contributes a valuable framework for objectively measuring cognitive load over an extended period, its generalisability is limited due to the small sample size. ...
Psychology and nutritional science research has highlighted the impact of negative emotions and cognitive load on calorie consumption behaviour using subjective questionnaires. Isolated studies in other domains objectively assess cognitive load without considering its effects on eating behaviour. This study aims to explore the potential for developing an integrated eating behaviour assistant system that incorporates cognitive load factors. Two experimental sessions were conducted using custom-developed experimentation software to induce different stimuli. During these sessions, we collected 30 h of physiological, food consumption, and affective states questionnaires data to automatically detect cognitive load and analyse its effect on food choice. Utilising grid search optimisation and leave-one-subject-out cross-validation, a support vector machine model achieved a mean classification accuracy of 85.12% for the two cognitive load tasks using eight relevant features. Statistical analysis was performed on calorie consumption and questionnaire data. Furthermore, 75% of the subjects with higher negative affect significantly increased consumption of specific foods after high-cognitive-load tasks. These findings offer insights into the intricate relationship between cognitive load, affective states, and food choice, paving the way for an eating behaviour assistant system to manage food choices during cognitive load. Future research should enhance system capabilities and explore real-world applications.
... Previous studies have likewise found unrestrained eaters reduce their intake in response to stress or threat manipulations (e.g., Heatherton et al., 1991;Herman & Polivy, 1975;Ward & Mann, 2000). Heatherton et al. (1991) posited that to provoke disinhibition, a stressor must constitute an ego threat rather than physical fear, proposing that physical threats (e.g., anticipating electric shock) decrease unrestrained eaters' intake because they produce autonomic arousal. ...
... One of the differences between the current study, which did not find increased food intake among restrained eaters associated with stress, and previous studies within this literature is that the majority of past studies dichotomized restraint based on either a median split (e.g., Herman & Polivy, 1975;Wallis & Hetherington, 2004) or cut-off scores (e.g., Heatherton et al., 1991;Ward & Mann, 2000). This practice can overestimate effect size and lead to Type I errors (MacCallum et al., 2002). ...
Literature on restrained eaters posits that the capacity to successfully diet is cognitively demanding, requiring exertion of cognitive control over one’s eating behaviour. Demands that deplete this limited inner resource can thus lead restrained eaters to become disinhibited and consume large amounts of food. Although self-regulation is inferred to play a role, it has not yet been studied in combination with its physiological correlates. As low heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with lower self-regulatory capacity, and acute mental stressors decrease HRV, it was hypothesized that reduced HRV during stress may mediate the relationship between stress and food intake, and that the mediation may be moderated by dietary restraint. Specifically, the moderation hypothesis predicted more restrained eaters would exhibit a stronger relationship between low HRV and intake. Female undergraduates (n = 92) were randomized to a stress or control condition while HRV was recorded. Participants subsequently engaged in a bogus taste test to quantify post-stress consumption. Restraint was conceptualized using Hagan and colleagues’ (2017) latent restraint factors. A significant moderated mediation emerged for Weight-Focused Restraint, ab3 = .196, SE = .077, 95% CI [.060, .361] and Calorie Counting, ab3 = .062, SE = .023, 95% CI [.024, .115]. However, contrary to expectation, stress-induced HRV reduction was associated with decreased intake for those low in restraint, whereas intake was unrelated to HRV for individuals with higher dietary restraint. Further, there was no evidence of traditionally-defined disinhibition in more restrained eaters. Results suggest those with higher restraint show a relative disconnection from internal physiological cues shown to affect intake under stress in less restrained individuals.
... Therefore, in a task that requires a higher WM load, restrained eaters may fail to maintain their eating goals, which may lead to overeating, and such a pattern is not observed for unrestrained eaters. Ward and Mann (2000) investigated the role of cognitive load where (un)restrained eaters were tested in low and high cognitive-load conditions. Participants in the high cognitive-load condition were instructed to memorize a series of art slides before a recognition task and to respond to a secondary reaction-time (RT) task. ...
... In both conditions, high-calorie foods (e.g., chips, chocolate cookies) were provided for participants to consume. Restrained eaters consumed excessive amounts of food compared to unrestrained eaters after completing a task that required the use of most of their cognitive resources (Ward & Mann, 2000; see also Mann & Ward, 2007). ...
Our environment is surrounded by appetizing food stimuli that contribute to an increase in health problems such as obesity and overweight. Understanding the cognitive factors underlying the processing of food stimuli can play an important role in health interventions. Recent studies showed that high-calorie food stimuli impair working memory (WM) task performance, and some individuals, such as restrained eaters, are more susceptible to this WM performance decrement. The present study investigated the effect of low and high WM load on the processing of food stimuli in restrained and unrestrained eaters. Using an n-back task, identical food (low and high calorie) and non-food (object) stimuli were presented in colored (Experiment 1A) or in grayscale (Experiment 1B) versions. Performance was assessed by reaction time (RT), d-prime, and response bias C variables. Results revealed differences in the different WM load conditions. While no effects were observed in the low load, higher WM load impaired task performance. Processing the food stimuli, compared to objects, led to longer RTs and decreased task performance, indicated by d prime and response bias, only when the stimuli were presented in color but not in grayscale. Though no difference was observed in restrained and unrestrained eaters, the role of WM load on the visual processing of the food stimuli remains to be further examined.
... GAD might also have other effects on the individual's experiences and proper functioning. For instance, some researchers maintain that since individuals with negative emotions can focus heavily on their own emotional states, their self-control levels may decrease (Chester et al., 2016;Sinha, 2009;Ward & Mann, 2000). The findings of other research also confirmed that a low level of self-control is predicted by negative feelings (Özdemir et al., 2014). ...
... Wen et al. (2022) also revealed that self-control mediated the relationship between subjective well-being and insecurity All individuals have self-control skills, but some individuals are more inclined towards losing their self-control than others (Baumeister & Heatherton, 1996). According to the researchers, feelings such as anxiety and depression may cause individuals to focus on these feelings and consequently decrease the level of self-control (Sinha, 2009;Ward & Mann, 2000). Furthermore, when individuals have low selfcontrol skills, they may have difficulty controlling their behavior, which predisposes them to negative consequences. ...
How the mental health of individuals is affected by the living conditions brought about the COVID-19 pandemic has become an important research topic. Education has been one of the most affected areas in this period, and educational activities have started to be carried out using distance education tools. In the online learning environments, students' ability to manage their behavior and take responsibility for their behavior has come to the fore in terms of protecting their mental health due to the decrease in teacher control. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of self-control in the relationship between loneliness, anxiety and mental well-being. Four hundred twenty-five university students, 304 (71.5%) females and 121 (28.5%) males participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 21.39, the standard deviation was 2.61, and the ages ranged from 18 to 39. Research data were collected by using the Turkish version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, Brief Self-Control Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale, and UCLA Loneliness Scale. In the study, descriptive statistics, reliability coefficients and correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationships among the variables. Two-step structural equation modeling was used to investigate the mediating role of self-control between loneliness and anxiety and mental well-being. The results of the correlation analysis showed that all the variables in the study were significantly related to each other. It was found that the data validated the measurement model tested in the first step. As a result of the structural model analysis performed in the second step, it was found that loneliness and anxiety negatively predicted self-control and mental well-being. In addition, self-control was found to mediate the relationship between loneliness, anxiety and mental well-being. Within the framework of these findings, it can be stated that loneliness and anxiety lead to a decrease in mental well-being by reducing self-control.
... The principal approach to reducing body mass is engagement of dietary restraint, with an estimated 20% to 50% of females and 5% to 25% of males employing dietary restraint techniques (Slof-Op 't Landt et al., 2017). Dietary restraint refers to the conscious decision to restrict food intake and/or restrict consumption of specific food types (Herman & Polivy, 1984), which is typically implemented with self-imposed verbal rules that enable an individual to vigilantly observe and maintain a pattern of eating that will lead to weight loss (Ward & Mann, 2000). In this context, verbal rules refer to the specification of contingency that is based on language rather than experienced contingency, i.e. reality, and therefore may be arbitrarily determined. ...
... Irrespective of its disputed efficacy, dietary restraint, characterised as adhering to self-devised verbal rules that regulate eating behaviour, is a prevalent method of weight loss and maintenance within the general populous (Ward & Mann, 2000). Hitherto, research has focused upon the role of dietary restraint in food-based decision making, potential differences among varying demographic and individual social cognitive factors and its role in eating pathology (Bublitz et al., 2010;Linardon et al., 2018;Manasse et al., 2018;Scott et al., 2008). ...
Objective:
The current study aims to improve understanding of events leading to lapses of dietary restraint, and to identify pathways to perseverance or abandonment of weight loss efforts in response to lapses. In addition, Behaviour Sequence Analysis (BSA) was also evaluated as an analytical tool in dietary behaviour.
Design:
A sample of 176 adults who were engaging in self-imposed dietary restraint for weight loss were recruited to participate.
Main outcome measures:
Participants were instructed to provide a detailed written timeline of an episode where they lapsed in their dietary restraint plan. They were instructed to report their preceding behaviours and internal states, and social and environmental contexts, leading up to and after their lapse in dietary restraint.
Results:
Lapses in dietary restraint were precipitated by negative internal states in the presence of cues for highly palatable foods. In addition, abandonment of weight loss efforts after lapsing was preceded by dichotomous thinking, whereas perseverance was preceded by a more neutral, flexible interpretation of the lapse in self-control.
Conclusion:
BSA has identified that neutral evaluation of inevitable lapses in dietary restraint are predictive of continuation with weight loss efforts, highlighting the importance of individual tolerance of lapses in self-regulation.
... Magoo effect,'' wherein the driver, albeit showing little regard for traffic regulations, continues to do so as a result of their lacking self-awareness. This explanation is even more plausible when considering that, while distracted, some of the resources that could otherwise be used for self-monitoring are now committed to the execution of other non-driving, attention demanding tasks, therefore hindering self-awareness (38). ...
... Have Drivers Engaged in More Distracted Driving? Midpoint analysis conducted on block 2 questions revealed that following March 2020 participants denied using their phone more often while driving, t(102) = 3.38, p \ 0.05, Cohen's d = 0.47, no matter if it were for work or school (Q8), t(102) = 6.59, p \ 0.05, Cohen's d = 0.92, leisure activities (Q10), t(102) = 6.69, p \ 0.05, Cohen's d = 0.93, or to engage in virtual conferencing (Q11), t(102) = 9.94, p \ 0.05, Cohen's d = 1.38. When asked about other motorists' behavior, however, participants agreed they had seen more drivers ...
COVID-19 had a disruptive effect on the global community. This study looks at the effects that the stringent lockdown measures enacted in March 2020 had on motorists’ driving patterns. In particular, given the greater portability of remote working associated with the drastic decline in personal mobility, it is hypothesized that these may have served as accelerators for distracted and aggressive driving. To answer these questions, an online survey was conducted in which 103 respondents were asked to report on their own and other drivers’ driving behavior. While respondents agreed they drove less frequently, they also indicated that they were not prone to more aggressive driving or engaging in potentially distracting activities whether for work or personal purposes. When asked to report on other motorists’ behavior, however, respondents indicated they had witnessed more aggressive and distracting drivers on the road after March 2020 relative to the time before the pandemic. These findings are reconciled with the existing literature on self-monitoring and self-enhancement bias, and the existing literature on the effect of comparable large-scale, disruptive events on traffic patterns is used to discuss the hypothesis on how driving patterns may change after the pandemic.
... One crucial condition for exposure to temptation to boost resistance, however, is the availability and accessibility of a food restriction goal. Exposure to temptation supports those who can access the food restriction goal but not those who do not have that goal (Papies, Stroebe, and Aarts 2008) or cannot access it (Ward and Mann 2000). Research on the pre-exposure effect also shows how a restriction goal can be temporarily created by constructing a task goal that conflicts with eating (Geyskens et al. 2008). ...
The enduring availability of high‐caloric, tempting food in consumer environments has been identified as a major cause driving the obesity epidemic. The severity of the problem tends to hide the important fact that many consumers often resist food temptations. This article aims at designing consumption reduction strategies that build on the spontaneous capacity of consumers to resist food temptations. Across a series of three experiments, of which two laboratory studies and one field study, we find that physical exposure to food temptations reduces subsequent free consumption of similar foods. Building on cognitive control theory, we extend this finding and identify boundary conditions. We show that the reduction of consumption works in challenging populations (e.g., men and children) with pictures of food temptations and that it survives a delay. We also show that the effect is suppressed with explicit prohibition during pre‐exposure and with combined exposure (i.e., the combination of physical and picture temptations) in children. The findings are discussed concerning their potential as a social marketing tool.
... It may lead individuals to rumination, depleting the psychological resources necessary for problem-solving [41], thereby weakening self-control. Additionally, negative cognitive processing bias can elevate negative emotions and deepen individual dysregulated responses, ultimately reducing self-control [42,43]. ...
... In a series of 10 experiments, we test our hypothesis that engaging in creative ideation compared with engaging in practical ideation or a neutral control task leads people to (a) self-report feeling more indulgent (Studies 1a-d, 2, 3c, 4) and (b) make more indulgent choices such as building more calorie-rich burgers (Studies 1a, 3a, 3b, 4), more alcoholic cocktails (Study 1b), workout regimens that burn fewer calories (Study 1c), choosing candy versus healthier options (Study 1d), and eating more candy (Study 2). We chose these dependent measures because one of the most common behavioral measures of indulgence is the choice or consumption of unhealthy foods (Cornil & Chandon, 2013;Effron et al., 2013;Fishbach & Zhang, 2008;Flores et al., 2019;Inzlicht & Kang, 2010; J. C. Kim et al., 2019;May & Irmak, 2018;Ward & Mann, 2000). In this way, the amount of unhealthy food created for consumption (calories in a burger, alcohol in a cocktail) or actually consumed (e.g., the weight of candy) is the behavioral manifestation of indulgence. ...
Given that creative ideation has been widely characterized as involving disinhibition, we tested whether a brief creative ideation effort increased subsequent indulgence through the choice of real or imagined rewards. Across 10 experiments (and an additional four in the Supplemental Material) and 3,412 participants (including the ones in the Supplemental Material), we show that a short creative ideation (vs. control) task led to more indulgent eating, drinking, and exercise choices and behaviors. Participants who generated creative ideas subsequently assembled burgers with higher calorie content (Studies 1a, 3a, 3b, 4), proposed cocktails with higher alcohol content (Study 1b), planned workouts that burned fewer calories (Study 1c), chose candy more often (Study 1d), and ate more candy (Study 2) than participants who engaged in control tasks. In line with the perspective that creativity involves disinhibition, these effects were mediated by the behavioral activation system, which is thought to underlie the uninhibited pursuit of desires and rewards (Studies 2, 3a, 4). Furthermore, an experiment in which we manipulated the behavioral activation system showed a causal effect on indulgent eating choices (Study 5). We discuss the implications for future research on the consequences of creativity as well as the possibility that creative work might lead to indulgent, potentially unhealthy choices and behaviors.
... Research shows that it is more difficult to stop when particular salient stimuli are presented [e.g., (70)]. The efficiency of activation can be measured with attention tasks which compare the efficiency with which salient stimuli compared to neutral stimuli are processed [e.g., (71)] or by examining the effect of mental load on the processing or responding to particular stimuli (72). Finally, speed can be examined within a lexical decision task in which participants are presented with words and non-words. ...
Automaticity is a hallmark of substance use disorder. In Schema Therapy (an evidence-based form of psychotherapy, that has also been applied to substance use disorders), automaticity appears to be a relevant variable. However, the role of automaticity in Schema Therapy has never been made explicit. In the present article, we investigate the role of automaticity in schema modes and its role in different phases in Schema Therapy for substance use disorders. In performing this investigation, we facilitate a better understanding of the working mechanisms of Schema Therapy, and, vice versa, suggest an alternative understanding of automaticity in substance use disorders. We suggest that the automatic use of substances is way of coping with schemas and, therefore, is the consequence of schema mode activity. In the article, four characteristics of automaticity (unconscious, uncontrollable/uncontrolled, efficient, fast) are translated to schema modes. Subsequently, a Schema Therapy case of a patient suffering from an alcohol use disorder and a narcissistic personality disorder is discussed, focusing on the four facets of automaticity. Last, implications for theory, clinical practice and future research are discussed.
... Consequently, less capacity remains available for other cognitive processes like inhibition and decision making that are for example needed when exercising self-control. Research from Ward and Mann (2000) studying the effects of cognitive load on eating behaviour showed that restrained eaters showed less self-control under high cognitive load and thus consumed more high-caloric food. Based on the above literature on scarcity, cognitive load, and self-control, we speculate that a feeling or mindset of scarcity makes the engagement in PEBs rather unlikely because carrying out a certain PEB requires self-control and deliberate decision making. ...
... Managers in dynamic environments must also grapple with the difficulties of understanding the critical elements of the many, uncertain decisionmaking options they face (Baum and Wally, 2003;Hough and White, 2003). As a result, managers are required to engage in multiple cognitive activities at a given time (Gilbert and Osborne, 1989), which decreases cognitive functioning (Gilbert, Giesler, and Morris, 1995) and is manifest as a failure of more effortful cognitive processing (Gilbert and Osborne, 1989), diminished use of available information (Gilbert, Pelham, and Krull, 1988), a narrowing of attention (Ward and Mann, 2000), and a more pronounced susceptibility to distractions (Lavie et al., 2004). This challenging decision context is compounded by an increased difficulty to detect one's own inconsistencies (Bargh and Thein, 1985). ...
... By contrast, if diet cues are made disproportionately salient in the environment, then cognitive load should be associated with diminished eating, as the ability to pay attention to relatively less potent consumption cues is impaired. Both effects have been demonstrated in past studies [28,30]. Parallel attentional narrowing effects produced by alcohol intoxication, in which drunk individuals devote the bulk of attentional resources to salient internal or external cues, have now been shown in a number of investigations [31][32][33]. ...
Individuals fail to suppress certain thoughts, especially under conditions that tax cognitive resources. We investigated the impact of modifying psychological reactance pressures on thought suppression attempts. Participants were asked to suppress thoughts of a target item under standard experimental conditions or under conditions designed to lower reactance pressures. In the presence of high cognitive load, weakening associated reactance pressures resulted in greater success at suppression. The results suggest that reducing relevant motivational pressures can facilitate thought suppression, even when an individual experiences cognitive limitation.
... On the other hand, the most important drivers of self-regulation failure are negative emotions (Sinha, 2009). In-fact, negative emotions alter the level of attention that could end in to distraction from goal-directed behavior and thus, the process of self-regulation would be lost (Ward & Mann, 2000). Along with these studies, the new EF-SR theory by Barkley (2021), discussed about the idea that ADHD is a disorder of self-regulation and point out self-regulation as the core aspect of EFs. ...
Although Executive Functions has been considered as the main correlation of ADHD few studies have examined the effect of EFs on ADHD symptoms, in the samples with ADHD. This study aimed to examine the structure of EFs on ADHD students in a hypothesized model. After careful screening of ADHD among 1368 university students (with stratified and multistage cluster sampling), out of them, 211 students with ADHD diagnosis were selected purposefully. They received scales on their emotion regulation, motivation, adult ADHD, deficits in EFs, and diagnostic interview. Emotion regulation and intrinsic motivation were considered as input; behavioral-inhibition, time-management, and problem-solving were the mediators and ADHD subscales were as the output variables. Results showed that the model adequately fit the data. The model fit indices were χ2 = 27.081, df = 1, CFI = 0.99, GFI = 0.97, and PGFI = 0.02. The direct effects of intrinsic-motivation and emotion-regulation on all three mediators and indirect effects of them to ADHD subscales were significant. Based on the results, time-management mediated the relationship between motivation and emotion regulation and ADHD. Among EFs, emotion-regulation and intrinsic-motivation had fundamental influence to other aspects of EFs factors such as behavioral-inhibition, time-management, problem-solving, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
... The concept of self-control is known to be associated with many problematic behaviors such as addictions and impulse disorders (Davis 2001, Oh 2003, Tangney et al. 2004, Kim et al. 2017. Furthermore, negative emotional states can cause a decrease in self-control (Sinha 2009) because negative emotions can trigger a loss of self-control by causing the person to focus more on his/ her emotional state (Ward and Mann 2000). ...
The aim of this study is to examine the effect of gut microbiota on brain functions, mood and psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and behavioral addictions, neurotransmitter levels, cognitive processes such as self-control, decision making and delayed gratification. In this context, the relevant literature was reviewed and the findings were evaluated. The relationships of the bidirectional communication between the brain-gut axis with cognitive, emotional, behavioral and physiological processes were explained with a diagram. As a result, although more research is needed on this subject, it has been observed that the brain-gut axis is bidirectionally established through neural, stress, endocrine and immune systems. In this bidirectional communication process, there are interactions in the context of cognitive, emotional, behavioral and other physiological factors. These factors both individually enter into bidirectional relationships with the brain and gut microbiota and are affected by the bidirectional communication between the brain and gut.
... At the end of the filler tasks, the lab administrator collected and weighed the remaining grams of M&M's for each participant. The amount of M&M's consumed was used as a measure of indulgent consumption (following Ward & Mann, 2000). ...
The ability to cope with social identity threats is a crucial consumer capacity. But are all coping methods equally beneficial? Our work examines two dominant coping strategies—where individuals either highlight positive dimensions of the self (self‐focus strategy), or where they emphasize other out‐groups' worse performance (others‐focus strategy). We demonstrate that while the two strategies are equally effective at repairing the threatened identity, the others‐focus strategy leads to greater indulgent consumption for those who hold the threatened identity strongly. We also provide evidence of the underlying mechanism, showing that accessibility drives the differences in the indulgent consumption consequences of these coping strategies, which makes it possible for marketers to externally alter such effects. Specifically, we show that if marketers externally raise the accessibility of outgroups‐related concepts, for example, via an advertising message or environmental design, the impact of the others‐focus strategy on indulgence is diminished.
... However, there is also a considerable evidence base that indicates that dieting is often ineffective and can be harmful. Dieting has been found to negatively affect mood, self-esteem, body image, physical health, food preoccupation and disordered eating, and is a significant, pervasive risk in the development of eating disorders (Bacon & Aphramor, 2011;Goldschmidt et al., 2016;Hilbert et al., 2014;Ward & Mann, 2000). Further, not only are diets ineffective for the vast majority in the longterm, they have also been found to be the most consistent predictor of weight gain over time (Mann et al., 2007;Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2006;NIH Technology Assessment Conference Panel, 1992;. ...
Aims: There is a lack of qualitative research examining the experiences of learning to eat intuitively. This paper aims to present an in-depth exploration of the experiences of individuals undertaking an Intuitive Eating (IE) intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring the experiences of IE principles, facilitators and barriers to implementing IE and the impacts of COVID. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 11 women who had undertaken an IE intervention, which they received at least partly during the pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Results: 13 themes and five overarching domains were identified from the data: the experience of Intuitive Eating intervention was described as life-altering and a process of self-exploration. Participants described their experiences of finding liberation through lockdown and the challenges of COVID and discussed the societal impacts on their IE experience (‘not operating in a vacuum’). Conclusions: The study is the first to examine experiences of an IE intervention during a pandemic, providing novel insights. Findings suggest that overall the IE model was experienced favourably, with some respondents describing the principles as life-altering and challenging, such as developing unconditional permission to eat. It highlighted that the pandemic had both positive and negative impacts on IE, such as increased time to focus on treatment and fears of missing out on ‘in vivo’ learning due to the pandemic. Societal and social impacts were also discussed, including external pressures on body image and the role of support from others in treatment.
... Prior evidence suggests that when there is strict cognitive control over eating, this control is diminished, for example, due to a negative experience or stress, episodes of disinhibition and overeating are induced, in what is called the disinhibition effect (Van Strien, 2020). Emotional discomfort can act diminishing self-control strength, inducing disinhibited eating and elevated food intake (Ward and Mann, 2000). ...
This research aimed (1) to examine the agreement between body mass index (BMI)-based nutritional status and perceived nutritional status overall and by socio-demographic factors and (2) to state the association between the accuracy of weight perception and weight control practices in the Chilean adult population. A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out with 5,192 Chilean adult participants from the Chilean National Health Survey 2016–2017. Agreement between BMI-based weight status and body weight perception for the total sample and across subgroups was determined using the weighted kappa coefficient. The agreement between BMI-based and perceived nutritional status of the total sample was fair (kappa = 0.38). A higher rate of weight perception accuracy was identified in women, younger respondents, and participants with higher education, a higher income, and from urban areas than their counterparts. Respondents with overweight or obesity tended to underestimate their nutritional status. Actions to lose weight were higher in those who had the right perception of their overweight/obesity condition and those who overestimated their body weight, regardless of their nutritional status. In all groups, weight loss behaviors were more related to the perceived than the BMI-based nutritional status. The consequences of accurate perception of the nutritional status are discussed including its effects on body weight and mental health.
... The use of compensatory restraint by those with higher levels of body dissatisfaction should be encouraged. This can help individuals with weight dissatisfaction use this method of calorie control instead of routine restraint, which can result in rebound eating [54][55][56][57][58]. Application of study findings to health-promotion programs indicates an opportunity to promote adaptive eating styles as a substitute for maladaptive eating styles and as strategies for controlling weight and undergirding body satisfaction. ...
Body dissatisfaction is a common condition that poses health behavior risks, such as the use of maladaptive eating styles instead of adaptive eating styles. Few studies have simultaneously examined both adaptive and maladaptive eating styles and their association with body dissatisfaction in a comprehensive manner. To address this gap, this study examined how body dissatisfaction is related to an array of adaptive and maladaptive eating styles, weight-related behaviors, and health status as well as the associations of health status, BMI, and weight-related behaviors with body dissatisfaction in 261 young adult women. Maladaptive eating styles, such as emotional eating, tended to rise in tandem with body dissatisfaction, differing significantly among body-dissatisfaction levels with medium to large effect sizes. For adaptive eating styles, as body dissatisfaction increased, compensatory restraint increased, intuitive eating declined, and mindful eating did not differ. Weight-related dietary, physical activity, and sleep behaviors did not differ by body dissatisfaction level. BMI increased and health status decreased as body dissatisfaction increased. Binary logistic regression revealed those who were body-dissatisfied had significantly lower health status, higher BMIs, and did not differ on weight-related behaviors. Study findings suggest strategies to improve health-promotion interventions aiming to increase body satisfaction.
... These findings may be explained by evidence that restrictive eating requires significant cognitive and attentional resources. Therefore, cognitively taxing situations, which distract from, or deplete one's resources to maintain, restrictive eating goals are likely to increase food consumption (Bublitz et al., 2010;Ward & Mann, 2000). Given the cognitively taxing nature of the evolving pandemic, and the immediate temptation to consume food that is provided by FDAs, it is plausible that FDA use within this context increased overeating but not restrained eating tendencies. ...
With the recent proliferation of food delivery applications (‘apps’; FDAs), accessing a meal is more convenient and immediate than ever. These apps may potentially foster dysregulated eating behaviours, including maladaptive eating to cope with negative emotional states. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), the current study assessed whether FDA use at baseline predicted levels of EMA-assessed disordered eating urges and body dissatisfaction, whether negative mood and loneliness impacted disordered eating urges and body dissatisfaction at the state level, and whether the latter relationships were moderated by FDA usage frequency. Participants (N = 483; 78.7% women; 20.1% men; 1.2% other) completed a baseline questionnaire and were characterised as current FDA users (49.3%) or non-users (50.7%). Participants then completed a smartphone-facilitated investigation into their experiences of loneliness, negative mood, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating urges, six times per day for 7-days. Across the entire sample, current FDA users at baseline reported greater EMA-assessed urges to overeat. At the state level, loneliness and negative mood predicted greater body dissatisfaction, with the latter also predicting greater urges for restrictive eating and overeating. Among current FDA users at baseline, at the state level, loneliness predicted greater body dissatisfaction, and negative mood predicted greater body dissatisfaction and urges for overeating. No moderating effects were observed for baseline FDA usage frequency. These results elucidate FDA use and daily experiences of loneliness and negative mood as factors elevating eating disorder (ED)-related risk. Further extensions of this research with nuanced measures of state FDA use are needed.
... On a general level, cognitive load has been shown to decrease forecasting performance (Rydval, 2012), task performance (Lewis and Linder (1997), and processing of information (Adcock, 2000), and hamper self-control (Shiv & Fedorikhin, 1999;Ward & Mann, 2000), and reasoning about future consequences (Hinson et al., 2003). Furthermore, several studies have shown that cognitive load can make people blind to information (Gilbert et al., 1988;Swann et al., 1990), which results in biased decision-making (Gilbert, 1989;Hernandez & Preston, 2013). ...
Though human social interaction in general seems effortless at times, successful engagement in collaborative or exploitative social interaction requires the availability of cognitive resources. Research on Dual-Process suggests that two systems, the affective (non-reflective) and the cognitive (reflective), are responsible for different types of reasoning. Nevertheless, the evidence on which system leads to what type of behavioral outcome, in terms of prosociality, is at best contradicting and perplexing. In the present paper, we examined the role of the two systems, operationalized as working memory depletion, in prosocial decision-making. We hypothesize that the nature of the available cognitive resources could affect whether humans engage in collaborative or exploitative social interaction. Using Operation Span to manipulate the availability of working memory, we examined how taxing the cognitive system affects cooperation and cheating. In two experiments, we provide evidence that concurrent load, but not cumulative load is detrimental to cooperation, whereas neither concurrent nor cumulative load seems to affect cheating behavior. These findings are in contrast to several previous assumptions. We discuss limitations, possible explanations, and future directions.
In recent years, a noteworthy proportion of restrained eaters have highlighted the substantial market demand for food products designed for weight management. The use of health and nutritional claims is emerging as a widespread strategy for attracting restrained eaters. Across three online preregistered studies, our findings demonstrate that restrained eaters exhibit a stronger preference for food carrying health claims than unrestrained eaters. This phenomenon is observable across food categories of varying health levels. The mechanism underlying this preference lies in the higher perception of healthiness that is attributed to such foods, which subsequently enhances the perception of their weight loss effectiveness. This research contributes to the literature on dietary restraint and health claims. Furthermore, our results imply that marketers should consider using health claims to assist restrained eaters in making food choices that are better aligned with their health and weight loss goals.
The unit bias, which asserts that consumption decreases as a food unit size decreases, is a prominent effect studied in psychology, health, and obesity research domains, yet little is known about when or why this effect occurs, or how marketing plays a role in the effect. To address this gap in the literature, this research extends the current understanding of the unit bias by proposing the social unitization effect, which posits that consumers’ selection of discrete unitized foods is dependent on impression management motives. That is, when impression management motives are low, consumers choose a greater number of small (vs. large) food units; however, in social (public) settings, when impression management motives are higher, this difference between numbers of small and large food units selected is attenuated. This effect is driven by a reduction in the number of small units selected when consumers are with others (vs. when they are alone). The research then demonstrates how the social unitization effect manifests in various marketing contexts via marketing-related factors like servicescape design (e.g., in-store surveillance), food branding (e.g., branding food as “mini”), and food design (i.e., the shape of food units). These findings offer novel and actionable implications for marketers, health advocates, and consumers.
Across three experiments conducted for this research, it is evident that limited cognitive resources do play a role in the influence of product contagion effects. This research examines how cognitive resource limitations affect consumer evaluations of the product contagion. Results indicate that consumers have the ability to process a product context and to transfer stronger negative contagion effects when they expend less cognitive effort on fewer products or when they are under low cognitive load conditions. In addition, we also use good gestalt to explore the negative contagion effects. Consumers could expend fewer cognitive resources and lower their evaluations when products are arranged in a high degree of closure. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Recent studies have shown that cognitive overload disrupted the affective processing of taste attributes in food-related tasks, which is difficult to explain using dual-system theories with their reflective and impulsive systems (involved in the cognitive and affective processing of stimuli, respectively). The tripartite neurocognitive model proposes an additional interoceptive system that regulates the activities of reflective and impulsive systems. Using this framework, we studied self-control over food choices and hypothesized inferior processing of both affective (taste) and cognitive (health) components of choice-relevant attributes under increased cognitive load. We expected increased cognitive load to decrease the coupling between interoceptive and impulsive systems (represented by anterior insula (AI) and ventral striatum (VS), respectively), and to strengthen decoupling between interoceptive and reflective system (represented by dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)). In an fMRI scanner, 49 participants made 60 food choices requiring self-control (i.e., between a healthier and tastier item) twice: in high (HL) and low working memory load (LL) conditions. We found that functional connectivity between the right AI and VS was weaker in HL compared to LL condition. We also revealed an expected trend towards a stronger negative connectivity between the right AI and DLPFC in HL compared to LL condition. Our findings suggest that cognitively demanding task concurrent to food self-control task overloads AI and reduces the reinforcement of VS by AI. This helps in explaining how and why the affective processing of taste attributes, together with the cognitive processing of health attributes, may be disrupted under cognitive overload.
Recent studies have shown that spontaneous pre-stimulus fluctuations in brain activity affect higher-order cognitive processes, including risky decision-making, cognitive flexibility, and aesthetic judgments. However, there is currently no direct evidence to suggest that pre-choice activity influences value-based decisions that require self-control. We examined the impact of fluctuations in pre-choice activity in key regions of the reward system on self-control in food choice. In the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, 49 participants made 120 food choices that required self-control in high and low working memory load conditions. The task was designed to ensure that participants were cognitively engaged and not thinking about upcoming choices. We defined self-control success as choosing a food item that was healthier over one that was tastier. The brain regions of interest (ROIs) were the ventral tegmental area (VTA), putamen, nucleus accumbens (NAc), and caudate nucleus. For each participant and condition, we calculated the mean activity in the 3-s interval preceding the presentation of food stimuli in successful and failed self-control trials. These activities were then used as predictors of self-control success in a fixed-effects logistic regression model. The results indicate that increased pre-choice VTA activity was linked to a higher probability of self-control success in a subsequent food-choice task within the low-load condition, but not in the high-load condition. We posit that pre-choice fluctuations in VTA activity change the reference point for immediate (taste) reward evaluation, which may explain our finding. This suggests that the neural context of decisions may be a key factor influencing human behavior.
Although the focus of research for decades, there is a surprising lack of consensus on what is (and what is not) self-control. We review some of the most prominent theoretical models of self-control, including those that highlight conflicts between smaller-sooner versus larger-later rewards, “hot” emotions versus “cool” cognitions, and efficient automatic versus resource-intensive controlled processes. After discussing some of their shortcomings, we propose an alternative approach based on tenets of construal level theory (Trope et al., 2021) that integrates these disparate models while also providing novel insights. Specifically, we model self-control as a problem of regulatory scope—the range of considerations one accounts for in any decision or behavior. Self-control conflicts occur when the pursuit of specific local opportunities threatens the ability to address motivational priorities that span a broader array of time, places, individuals, and possibilities. Whereas a more contractive consideration of relevant concerns may prompt indulgence in temptation, a more expansive consideration of concerns should not only help people identify the self-control conflict but also successfully resolve it. We review empirical evidence that supports this new framework and discuss implications and new directions. This regulatory framework not only clarifies what is and what is not self-control but also provides new insights that can be leveraged to enhance self-control in all its various forms.
Research has shown that hungry individuals are more impulsive, impatient, and prone to make indulgent food choices compared to their satiated counterparts. However, the literature is still mixed, with some studies showing such results while others fail to demonstrate hunger effects on consumers’ choice behavior. The current cross-sectional study (N = 461) sought to address these inconsistencies by examining whether the link between hunger and people’s propensity to make indulgent (vs. virtuous) food choices is moderated by their healthy eating concerns. Our findings revealed a weak but significant association between participants’ self-reported hunger levels and their likelihood of making indulgent rather than virtuous food choices (e.g., preferring a chocolate cake instead of a fruit salad). Importantly, this effect was moderated by their healthy eating concerns, such that the link between hunger and choice likelihood of indulgent food options only emerged among participants who scored lower, but not higher, in healthy eating concerns. We also replicated these results in a robustness check that focused on the extent to which participants indicated having a healthy lifestyle (e.g., exercising regularly), with a similar moderating influence of this factor. Together, these findings shed light on the importance of considering certain boundary conditions for establishing a link between hunger and consumers’ food choices, thus adding nuance to the growing body of hunger-related literature. The results emphasize the importance of ensuring the availability of healthier snack options in environments wherein foods and beverages can be consumed, particularly at times when consumers tend to be hungry, to promote healthier eating habits.
Many individuals struggle to regulate their own consumption of food. Beginning with general theories of self-control, we review psychological factors that have been shown to influence the regulation of eating, including those related to particular personality variables, such as external eating, restrained eating, and reward sensitivity, as well as situational constraints, including normative influences, emotions, and calorie deprivation. Strategies for the self-control of eating, including reappraisal, effortful inhibition, and various automatic strategies are also reviewed, along with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of historical and contemporary psychological studies investigating food consumption. Whereas extensive examinations of food preferences and body weight have appeared in the psychological literature, we call for more robust research that prioritizes actual eating as the primary dependent measure.
It is well known that laboratory subjects often do not play mixed strategy equilibria games according to the theoretical predictions. However, little is known about the role of cognition in these strategic settings. We therefore conduct an experiment where subjects play a repeated hide and seek game against a computer opponent. Subjects play with either fewer available cognitive resources (high cognitive load treatment) or with more available cognitive resources (low cognitive load treatment). Surprisingly, we find some evidence that subjects in the high load treatment earn more than subjects in the low treatment. However, we also find that subjects in the low treatment exhibit a greater rate of increase in earnings across rounds, thus suggesting more learning. Our evidence is consistent with subjects in the low load treatment over-experimenting. Further, while we observe that subjects do not mix in the predicted proportions and that their actions exhibit serial correlation, we do not find strong evidence these are related to their available cognitive resources. This suggests that the standard laboratory deviations from the theoretical predictions are not associated with the availability of cognitive resources. Our results shed light on the extent to which cognitive resources affect (and do not affect) behavior in games with mixed strategy equilibria.
Background
The concept of a financial scarcity mindset has raised much attention as an explanation for poor decision-making and dysfunctional behavior. It has been suggested that financial scarcity could also impair dietary behavior, through a decline in self-control. Underlying cognitive mechanisms of tunneling (directing attention to financial issues and neglecting other demands), cognitive load (a tax on mental bandwidth interfering with executive functioning) and time orientation (a shift towards a present time horizon, versus a future time horizon) may explain the association between financial scarcity and self-control related dietary behavior. The current scoping review gathers recent evidence on how these mechanisms affect dietary behavior of people experiencing financial scarcity. It builds on a theoretical framework based on insights from behavioral economics and health psychology.
Methods
A literature search was executed in six online databases, which resulted in 9.975 papers. Search terms were tunneling, cognitive load and time orientation, financial scarcity, and dietary behavior. Screening was performed with ASReview, an AI-ranking tool. In total, 14 papers were included in the scoping review. We used PRISMA-ScR guidelines for reporting.
Results
Limited evidence indicates that a scarcity mindset could increase tunneling, through attentional narrowing on costs of food, which then directly impacts dietary behavior. A scarcity mindset involves experiencing financial stress, which can be understood as cognitive load. Cognitive load decreases attentional capacity, which could impair self-control in dietary choices. Financial scarcity is related to a present time orientation, which affects dietary choices by shifting priorities and decreasing motivation for healthy dietary behavior.
Conclusions
A scarcity mindset affects dietary behavior in different ways. Tunneling and a shift in time orientation are indicative of an attentional redirection, which can be seen as more adaptive to the situation. These may be processes indirectly affecting self-control capacity. Cognitive load could decrease self-control capacity needed for healthy dietary behavior because it consumes mental bandwidth. How a changing time orientation when experiencing financial scarcity relates to motivation for self-control in dietary behavior is a promising theme for further inquiry.
This paper analyzes how narcissistic CEOs behave regarding irresponsible environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies and whether this behavior is influenced by managerial power and the uncertainty of the environment in which the firm operates. Using a sample of Spanish firms from 2015 to 2019, the study finds that narcissistic CEOs avoid engaging in irresponsible ESG practices to safeguard their reputation and receive positive recognition from stakeholders and society. The results also suggest that the effect of CEO narcissism on ESG practices is moderated by CEO power and an uncertain environment. Narcissistic CEOs with more managerial power tend to avoid engaging in unethical ESG practices. Meanwhile, CSR committees and/or independent board directors limit the unethical ESG practices of narcissistic CEOs, confirming the relevance of both governance mechanisms in constraining ESG misconduct.
The current work demonstrates that people serve themselves greater amounts of food when carrying heavier serving dishes. This effect occurs because increases in carried weight lower consumers’ sensitivity to the weight of the food served. Decreased sensitivity to weight of food served in turn leads people to continue serving past the point where they would normally stop. The paper demonstrates this effect across two lab studies involving actual food serving (with a third lab study extending the outcomes to unhealthy food choices reported in the S1 Appendix). The studies also demonstrate liking for the food moderates the effect, such that carrying greater weight leads people to serve an increased amount of liked, but not of less well liked, foods. The findings extend prior research regarding the effects of dish weight on food judgment to provide a first demonstration of effects of weight not only on judgment but on behavior. In this, they help expand our understanding of the ways in which elements in the eating environment effects food consumption. In addition, the studies provide initial evidence for the mechanism behind the phenomenon: reduced sensitivity to weight. The research carries important implications for public well being, given that increases in serving sizes may contribute to obesity.
Objective:
Human behaviors, thoughts, and emotions are guided by memories of the past. Thus, there can be little doubt that memory plays a fundamental role in the behaviors (e.g., binging), thoughts (e.g., body-image concerns), and emotions (e.g., guilt) that characterize eating disorders (EDs). Although a growing body of research has begun to investigate the role of memory in EDs, this literature is limited in numerous ways and has yet to be integrated into an overarching framework.
Methods:
In the present article, we provide an operational framework for characterizing different domains of memory, briefly review existing ED memory research within this framework, and highlight crucial gaps in the literature.
Results:
We distinguish between three domains of memory-episodic, procedural, and working-which differ based on functional attributes and underlying neural systems. Most recent ED memory research has focused on procedural memory broadly defined (e.g., reinforcement learning), and findings within all three memory domains are highly mixed. Further, few studies have attempted to assess these different domains simultaneously, though most behavior is achieved through coordination and competition between memory systems. We, therefore, offer recommendations for how to move ED research forward within each domain of memory and how to study the interactions between memory systems, using illustrative examples from other areas of basic and clinical research.
Discussion:
A stronger and more integrated understanding of the mechanisms that connect memory of past experiences to present ED behavior may yield more comprehensive theoretical models of EDs that guide novel treatment approaches.
Public significance:
Memories of previous eating-related experiences may contribute to the onset and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). However, research on the role of memory in EDs is limited, and distinct domains of ED memory research are rarely connected. We, therefore, offer a framework for organizing, progressing, and integrating ED memory research, to provide a better foundation for improving ED treatment and intervention going forward.
The current research examines how the vividness of food depictions affects consumers' consumption expectations of indulgent food items. Through three studies, we found that the level of motivation to be healthy plays a crucial role in determining how vividness impacts their consumption expectations of indulgent food items. Specifically, when consumers are less motivated to be healthy, vividness increases their consumption expectations due to increased attention‐driven involvement with the food information. On the other hand, when consumers are motivated to be healthy, vividness is assumed to increase goal conflict, leading to reduced consumption expectations. Importantly, our research also found that the joint effect of vividness and health motivations on consumption expectations is attenuated when the indulgent food items contain healthy ingredients.
The ability to detect deception is one of the most intriguing features of our minds. Cognitive load can surprisingly increase the accuracy of detection when there is a substantial load compared to when the detection is performed without cognitive load. This effect was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, the participants were asked to watch truth/lie videos while completing a concurrent task (N-back in a 3-back version; intuitive processing), providing verbal reasoning after watching each video (deliberative processing), or watching the videos alone (control group). The cognitive load caused by the concurrent task led to a higher accuracy in deception detection compared to the other conditions. In the second experiment, we examined how this effect worked under various amounts of cognitive load. Participants watching truth/lie videos were assigned to one of three experimental conditions (N-back in three versions: 1, 3, and 5-back) or to a control group. The participants in the 3-back and 5-back conditions exhibited a significantly higher accuracy in deception detection than those in the 1-back and control groups. Thus, the effect of increased accuracy in deception detection is due to cognitive load and is related to the amount of cognitive load present.
Aging limits the capacity of one’s working memory. Hence, in decision contexts where especially older people have to evaluate too many alternatives put a cognitive load on them, which impairs their decision-making process and their trust in their decisions. This study examined the effects of intelligent decision assistants on the perceived social support, perceived information load, and trust of seniors while using the Medicare Plan Finder website. A national sample of 420 seniors from the Qualtrics panel participated in this study. It was found that using an intelligent decision assistant on the Medicare Plan Finder website increased seniors’ perceived social support, reduced their perceived information load, and increased their trust in the Medicare Plan Finder website especially when they are at the alternative evaluation stage of Medicare plan decision-making. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.KeywordsIntelligent Decision AssistantDecision-MakingMedicare Plan Finder
Moral identity, a construct that captures how individuals view themselves relative to moral attributes, has received widespread attention in the organizational sciences. This article builds on the existing moral identity literature by examining the mechanisms and boundary conditions of leader moral identity’s impact on the punishment of misconduct. Drawing on multiple literatures, we specifically argue that leader moral identity is positively related to the punishment of misconduct under the condition of higher cognitive load. Furthermore, we identify moral anger as a key mechanism. The theorized model was tested across three studies: a study of civil judges’ court rulings (Study 1), a study of managers’ tendencies to punish their employees’ misconduct (Study 2), and an experiment that manipulated cognitive load while testing the intermediary role of moral anger (Study 3). Results offered convergent support for our model, shedding new light on the impact of moral identity on leaders in the workplace. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Is consumers' present spending influenced by future changes in their income? From an economic perspective, consumers should reduce present spending when anticipating a future income decrease and boost spending when anticipating a future income increase to maximize their welfare. We find that although consumers tend to adjust their spending to a future income decrease, they are less likely to do so to a future income increase. We show that this is, in part, due to a low sense of self‐continuity, a tendency to view the future self whose income increases as if it were a different person and, as a result, to categorize present and future income into two separate mental accounts. Enhancing self‐continuity leads consumers to combine present and future income in a single mental account, and thereby facilitates adjustment of present spending to a future income increase. Whereas prior work linked high self‐continuity to reduced present spending, we identify a context in which high self‐continuity can boost present spending. We discuss the implications of these findings for consumer well‐being.
Purpose
Marketers often select unique color names for products to heighten shopper interest. The purpose of this study is to use self-referencing as the foundation for assessing how a product color name that involves the self impacts product evaluation. This paper also investigates the salient element that might moderate consumers’ responses, in particular for product categories where color serves mainly as decoration and is of secondary importance.
Design/methodology/approach
Two between-subjects experiments examined how self-referencing mediates the influence of generic versus identity color names on product evaluation (Study 1) and also tested whether the effect of naming product colors in identity terms is limited to the scenario where cognitive load is low rather than high (Study 2).
Findings
The results of this study show that identity color names are more persuasive than generic color names. Self-referencing mediates the results, and the favorable effect of identity color names is diminished in the case of high cognitive load. Such evidence suggests that consumers might face impediments for self-referenced processing when factors exhaust their cognitive resources. The decreased elaboration results in less favorable evaluation.
Originality/value
This research enriches knowledge of how an element as modest as a creative product color name influences consumer evaluation, with suggestions for approaches to color naming.
Wir haben es in diesem Kapitel mit den Klassikern des Lernens zu tun: Pawlow und Skinner. Dabei schließen wir uns der These an, dass sich Pawlow geirrt hat. Der Hund hatte keinen Reflex, sondern eine Erwartungshaltung, und hat, weil er aktiv an seinem Essen interessiert war, gesabbert. Die Lerntheorie von Skinner ist kaum zu hinterfragen. Wir lernen durch Belohnung. Wir lernen aber auch durch Beobachtung, ohne eine Handlung selber ausgeführt zu haben. Das zeigt uns Bandura. Außerdem lernen wir den Ansatz von Hull kennen, wonach sich das Reaktionspotenzial einer Person auf einen Reiz aus einer Verknüpfung von Gewohnheit, Bedürfnisstärke, Reizstärke und sozialem Druck ergibt.
Der Kern der Ego-Depletion-Theorie besteht aus der Annahme einer kognitiven Ressource, die begrenzt ist und durch eine Reihe kognitiver Aktivitäten verbraucht wird. Gemeinsames Charakteristikum dieser Aktivitäten ist die Involvierung von Selbstkontrolle. Auch das Treffen von Entscheidungen verbraucht diese Ressource. Das Treffen von Entscheidungen scheint in gleicher Weise „kognitiv anstrengend“ zu sein wie Aktivitäten, bei denen Selbstkontrolle involviert ist. Dies hat Konsequenzen für das Treffen von Entscheidungen. Es wird gezeigt, wie das Treffen von Entscheidungen unter Ego-Depletion beeinflusst wird und wie sich dieser Einfluss im Zeitablauf verändert. In diesem Kapitel werden Arbeiten vorgestellt, die den zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen des Ego-Depletion-Effektes beleuchten, dabei aber unterschiedliche Antworten geben. Es werden auch Arbeiten vorgestellt, die konträre Ergebnisse liefern oder solche, die die Theorie weitgehend modifizieren.
This dissertation concerns thought control activities in everyday working life. Given the almost unlimited availability of information in the digital age, combined with the increasing complexity of tasks and projects, exerting thought control is becoming more and more important. Stopping distracting thoughts and regaining control over one’s mind is therefore an important strategy for maintaining attentional and emotional control. While previous research on thought control has mostly been conducted in the laboratory and mainly dealt with the process itself, I seek to transfer such research into everyday working life and investigate it in an embedded manner – including variables that precede, moderate, and follow thought control activities. As individual thought control ability has been identified as a key variable theoretically and empirically, particular attention is paid to its assessment. Within the scope of my dissertation project, four studies were conducted. The first study demonstrates the importance of limiting the quantity of unnecessary external (e.g., outdated files) and internal (e.g., distracting thoughts) information by first reviewing the literature on intentional forgetting and thought control. In a second step, the reviewed literature is used to identify mechanisms of action for a conceptual prototype of a computer-based assistive system to support employees in managing irrelevant external information. Thirdly, to more deeply address internal processes in dealing with distracting thoughts, we conducted a qualitative critical incident study to examine why (functions and consequences) and when (situational predictors) employees typically want to control their thoughts in the work context. Sixty-five participants told stories of incidents in which they were motivated to forget at work and answered further prompts, which were then clustered into categories. The main situational predictors of exerting thought control identified were related to specific working conditions (e.g., time pressure, breaks), task characteristics (e.g., complexity, novelty), and social interactions. The main observed functions and consequences of thought control in the workplace were emotion regulation, maintenance of attentional control, maintenance of social relationships, preservation of self-image, knowledge acquisition, and goal attainment. These results shed light on why and where thought control activities are important in everyday working life, and thus provide a basis for further empirical and practical implications. Study 2 addresses the predictors more deeply and investigates how different personal and situational variables relate to thought control activities in the work context. Specifically, it examined how time pressure, task complexity (empirically identified situational variables from Study 1) and individual differences in thought control ability (personal variable) relate to the activation and perceived effort of thought control processes. A laboratory task assessing 143 employees’ ability to suppress unwanted thoughts (think/no-think paradigm) was combined with a five-day experience sampling study in the work context. Multilevel analyses revealed positive effects of task complexity and thought control ability on the activation of thought control, but underlined the importance of considering person-situation interactions with regard to time pressure: Employees engaged more often and more intensively in thought control activities at moderate levels of time pressure, but only when they had a higher ability to control their thoughts. In contrast, for employees with lower thought control ability, increasing time pressure was negatively related to the activation of thought control activities. Thus, individual thought control ability plays a decisive role in determining the impact of situational variables. Study 3 focuses on the consequences of thought control activities in the work context. Building on the results of Study 1, we examined the protective function of thought control activities for affect (emotion regulation), task focus (attentional control), and self-esteem (preservation of self-image). Individual differences in thought control ability were again considered in all assumed relationships, and we also examined possible mediating roles of negative affect and task focus on self-esteem. Data analyses relied on the same study setup and sample as Study 2 (N = 143 employees). Multilevel modeling results showed that individuals with lower thought control ability experienced higher negative affect and subsequently lower self-esteem after performing thought control activities, whereas individuals with higher ability did not. These findings underline the generally protective nature of thought control ability, but also point to possible detrimental aspects of unsuccessful thought control attempts. Thus, the benefits of thought control activities highly depend on their actual success. As thought control ability was found to be a central moderator variable both in predicting thought control activities (Study 2) and in their consequences (Study 3), Study 4 fully concentrates on the assessment of this construct. We compared task-based (think/no-think paradigm) and different self-report questionnaire measures within a meta-analytic framework (k = 20; N = 1,194). The overall correlation of r = .07 between the two types of measures was small and did not differ significantly from zero, and none of the contemplated moderators (age, gender, publication status, presentation order, type of self-report questionnaire) mattered. The results of an additional robust Bayesian meta-analysis tend to point to a null model rather than one with a medium effect size, but do not provide definitive evidence. Thus, it seems to be the case that task-based and self-report measures of thought control ability do not substantially overlap. This finding is discussed with respect to systematic differences in the underlying psychological processes captured by the two measures. The present dissertation contributes to the literature on thought control in several ways. It addresses thought control activities in an embedded manner by examining their predictors (Study 1, Study 2) as well as their consequences (Study 1, Study 3). Moreover, the whole process is investigated in an applied setting, which increases the external validity of the findings and connects laboratory research to everyday working life (Studies 1 – 3). Particular attention is drawn to individual differences in thought control ability, which were addressed theoretically (Study 1), empirically (Study 2, Study 3), and methodologically (Study 4). Overall, the results of the four studies suggest that intentional thought control activities are not only a laboratory phenomenon, but also play a protective role in everyday working life – especially in demanding situations. Thereby, the individual ability to control thoughts is involved in several processes and thus deserves particular attention in both future research and potential practical interventions.
The dual mechanisms of control (DMC) framework is important for portraying two temporally distinct modes of cognitive control. In parallel with this model, understanding emotion regulation (ER) from a dual-mechanism perspective becomes plausible since cognitive control is a crucial element of ER. The present study characterized reactive and proactive ER based on a dual mechanisms framework to identify their distinct temporal dynamics using electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. The reappraisal cue, compared with the watch-cue and no-cue conditions, evoked a larger fronto-central P3a magnitude, suggesting that participants could adaptively distribute their attention resources to prepare for strategy use. To track the cognitive effort that supports the ER process, we measured the frontal late positive potential (LPP). The results indicated that the reactive group, compared with the proactive group, used more effort to complete the reappraisal task when participants were subjected to decreased negative-emotional experiences to the same degree. Furthermore, decoding analysis showed that proactive ER starts earlier than reactive ER. These findings highlight the advantages of proactive ER. Further understanding of the modes of ER will help elucidate the control mechanisms underlying ER, which can then be applied to a variety of conditions, such as alcoholism, gambling, and drug addiction, to avert self-regulation failures caused by negative emotions.
Good self-control is a crucial factor in the distribution of life outcomes, ranging from success at school and work, to good mental and physical health, and to satisfying romantic relationships. While in the last decades psychologists have learned much about this all-important trait, both social theory and politics have not caught up. Many academics and policymakers still seem to believe that everybody has unlimited capacity for self-control and that maintaining discipline is purely a matter of volition. This book shows that such beliefs are fundamentally mistaken. It presents the state-of-the-art in research on self-control, explains why this trait has been largely overlooked, and sets out the profound implications of this psychological research for moral responsibility, distributive justice and public policy. It shows that the growing emphasis in politics on 'personal responsibility' is deeply problematic, and outlines alternatives more in accord with human psychology.
Attention represents a key element of self-control, and multiple theoretical accounts have highlighted the role played by abundant attentional capacity in effecting successful self-regulation. What, then, are the consequences of living in today’s world, in which attention can become so easily divided by a multitude of stimuli? In this article, we consider the implications of divided attention for self-control and show that although the end result is typically disinhibited behavior, under specified conditions, attentional limitation, or what we term attentional myopia, can be associated with enhanced restraint.
This study longitudinally examined the predictors and mediators of adolescents' online game addiction. Apropos this, the questions of whether parental loneliness at T1 predicts adolescents' online game addiction at T3 and whether adolescents' social skill deficits and loneliness at T2 mediate in this relationship, were investigated. Panel data were collected from three waves of the Game User Panel: W2 (T1: 2015), W3 (T2: 2016), and W4 (T3: 2017). The study sample comprised 336 parent–adolescent dyads. First, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that parental loneliness is positively and significantly linked with adolescents' online game addiction two years later. Second, the results of the structural equation modeling, using the serial mediation plugin, showed that adolescents' loneliness at T2 significantly mediates the association between parental loneliness at T1 and adolescents' online game addiction at T3; however, social skill deficits at T2 do not mediate that relationship. Moreover, adolescents' social skill deficits and loneliness at T2 serially mediate the relationship between parental loneliness at T1 and adolescents' online game addiction at T3. These findings indicate that parental loneliness could be a risk factor for adolescents’ online game addictions, and provide new information regarding potential mechanisms in this relationship.
A theory of ironic processes of mental control is proposed to account for the intentional and counterintentional effects that result from efforts at self-control of mental states. The theory holds that an attempt to control the mind introduces 2 processes: (a) an operating process that promotes the intended change by searching for mental contents consistent with the intended state and (b) a monitoring process that tests whether the operating process is needed by searching for mental contents inconsistent with the intended state. The operating process requires greater cognitive capacity and normally has more pronounced cognitive effects than the monitoring process, and the 2 working together thus promote whatever degree of mental control is enjoyed. Under conditions that reduce capacity, however, the monitoring process may supersede the operating process and thus enhance the person's sensitivity to mental contents that are the ironic opposite of those that are intended.
Four studies tested the hypothesis that alcohol decreases the likelihood of condom use during casual sex. First, in a correlational study, it was found that among men who reported that they usually use condoms, those who were intoxicated when they last had intercourse were less likely than sober men to have used one. Further, in two laboratory experiments and one field experiment, intoxicated people reported more positive intentions to have unprotected sex than sober people. These results are consistent with alcohol myopia as introduced by Steele and associates the notion that alcohol decreases cognitive capacity, such that intoxicated people are more likely to attend to the most salient cues in a situation. Intoxicated people may focus on the perceived benefits of having intercourse rather than on the negative consequences of not using condoms. These studies provide strong evidence that alcohol causes a decrease in condom use and suggest a mechanism for that relationship.
This review questions the appropriateness of behavioral and dietary treatments of obesity in light of overwhelming evidence that they are ineffective in producing lasting weight loss. The stigmatization of obesity, the overstatement of health risks, and the pervasive influence of the lucrative diet industry have maintained public demand for dietary treatment. However, decades of research on the biology of weight regulation make clear the unlikelihood of success with dietary treatment, information which the health professions have been slow to integrate. Recommendations are made for improving lifestyle, health risk factors, body image, and the self-esteem of the obese without requiring weight loss.
Although attempted weight loss is common, little is known about the goals and durations of weight loss attempts and the rates of achieved weight loss in the general population.
Data were collected by telephone in 1989 from adults aged 18 years and older in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Analyses were carried out separately for the 6758 men and 14,915 women who reported currently trying to lose weight.
Approximately 25% of the men respondents and 40% of the women respondents reported that they were currently trying to lose weight. Among men, a higher percentage of Hispanics (31%) than of Whites (25%) or Blacks (23%) reported trying to lose weight. Among women, however, there were no ethnic differences in prevalence. The average man wanted to lose 30 pounds and to weigh 178 pounds; the average woman wanted to lose 31 pounds and to weigh 133 pounds. Black women wanted to lose an average of 8 pounds more than did White women, but Black women's goal weight was 10 pounds heavier. The average rate of achieved weight loss was 1.4 pounds per week for men and 1.1 pounds per week for women; these averages, however, may reflect only the experience of those most successful at losing weight.
Attempted weight loss is a common behavior, regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity, and weight loss goals are substantial; however, obesity remains a major public health problem in the United States.
Two experiments examined an attention-allocation model of alcohol’s effect on psychological stress (Steele, Southwick, & Pagano, 1986). On the basis of this model, it was hypothesized that alcohol’s impairment of information processing, coupled with the demands of distracting activity, would reduce anxiety over an upcoming stressful event by making it harder to allocate attention to thoughts about the event. Alcohol intoxication without a distracting activity was not expected to have an anxiety-reducing effect but possibly to increase anxiety by narrowing and constraining attention to the imminent stressor. Finally, the distracting activity in this experiment, without intoxication, was not expected to reduce anxiety. The present experiments tested this reasoning by crossing whether or not subjects had received alcohol (dose of 1 ml/kg) with whether they rated art slides or did nothing during the period prior to an expected stressful speech. As predicted, being intoxicated and rating slides reduced subjects’ anxiety over the speech significantly more than any other condition in both experiments; being intoxicated and doing nothing significantly increased subjects’ anxiety compared with the other conditions, but only when the data from both experiments were combined. Activity alone had no anxiety-reducing effect. These results are discussed as (a) supporting the role of cognitive impairment and attention allocation in mediating alcohol’s anxiety-reducing effects, (b) clarifying conditions under which alcohol can increase anxiety, and (c) demonstrating the importance of activity in mediating the variability of alcohol’s tension-reducing effects.
This article critically examines two basic hypotheses concerning dietary restraint. One hypothesis focuses on "disinhibition" or loss of control among dieters and the other focuses on the relations between obesity and restraint. It is concluded that the "disinhibition hypothesis," which proposes that dieters overeat after disruptions in self-control, has been supported. Both perceptions of having overeaten and dysphoric mood precipitate high consumption among restrained eaters. Research is needed to establish the processes underlying these effects. It is also concluded that the "obesity and restraint hypothesis," which proposes that differences in level of restraint underlie differences between obese and normal weight people’s eating patterns, has not been supported. Although obese people have higher average restraint scores than normal weight people do, they do not show the disinhibited eating patterns that characterize normal weight, restrained eaters. Studies of the restraint scale have indicated that the high scores found among obese people may be due to psychometric problems in the scale. Overall, it is concluded that although the hypotheses concerning restraint, and the recent extension of them into a boundary model of food regulation, do not seem useful in understanding obesity; they appear to be relevant to understanding binge eating and related disorders, such as bulimia.
Two experiments tested the hypothesis that alcohol's reduction of psychological stress depends to an important degree on whether the drinker is also engaged in distracting activity. In the first study, the factor of whether or not subjects had received alcohol (dose of 1 mg/kg) was crossed, in a 2 × 2 design, with the factor of whether they rated pleasant art slides or did nothing during a period that immediately followed their having received negative feedback on an IQ test (taken earlier). As predicted, a significant interaction effect showed that mood improvement during this recovery period was greatest in the alcohol/slides condition—the only condition in which absolute mood improvement reached significance. Study 2 replicated this effect, and it provided evidence that ruled out several alternative explanations of the alcohol-activity effect. The results are discussed in terms of their implication that alcohol's reduction of psychological stress stems largely from its impairment of cognitive processes that, in conjunction with distracting activity, blocks out stress-inducing thoughts.
Two experiments were conducted to assess the effects of self-attention and public attention to food intake on eating by dieters and nondieters. Female dieters ate the greatest number of candies ad lib after consuming a forced two-milk shake preload; the addition of either self-attention or implied public attention, through the manipulated availability of a waste basket for the disposing of candy wrappers, inhibited eating substantially. For nondieters, the preload itself inhibited candy consumption, which declined further only under conditions of public attention to candy intake. In a second experiment, self- and public attention again inhibited the cookie consumption of preloaded dieters, but preloaded nondieters were not influenced by the attention manipulations, eating minimally in all conditions. Nondieters who were not preloaded, however, did reduce their intake in the two attention conditions. Implications for regulatory self-control were discussed.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.
Indicates that there are striking behavioral parallels between obese individuals and hungry individuals, suggesting that many obese individuals are actually in a chronic state of energy deficit and are genuinely hungry, perhaps because they attempt to hold their weight below its biologically dictated "set point." This conclusion is consistent with the remarkable similarities between the behavior of obese human beings and the behavior of animals that become obese after lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus. Consideration of these parallels suggests a reexamination of traditional views of hunger and the ventromedial hypothalamus syndrome. (106 ref.)
Examined similarities between experimental findings with obese human Ss and lesioned hyperphagic rats. In comparison to normals, obese Ss (a) eat more of a good- and less of a bad-tasting food; (b) eat fewer meals/day, eat more/meal, and eat more rapidly; (c) react more emotionally; (d) eat more when food is easy to procure and less when it is difficult; (e) do not regulate food consumption when preloaded with solids, but do when preloaded with liquids; and (f) are less active. N. Mrosovosky's theory that the ventromedial hypothalamus is functionally quiescent in obese Ss is discussed. The function of the hypothalamus is examined. It is hypothesized that obese Ss are stimulus-bound. Experiments reveal that obese Ss (a) do better on recall tests, (b) respond faster with fewer errors on complex RT tasks, (c) are more distractible, and (d) work harder for food when food cues are prominent. Reexamining the activity levels of Ss, it was found that beyond a given stimulus intensity, Ss are more reactive than normals. Difficulties with the comparison and formulation are noted. (38 ref.)
Stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group. Studies 1 and 2 varied the stereotype vulnerability of Black participants taking a difficult verbal test by varying whether or not their performance was ostensibly diagnostic of ability, and thus, whether or not they were at risk of fulfilling the racial stereotype about their intellectual ability. Reflecting the pressure of this vulnerability, Blacks underperformed in relation to Whites in the ability-diagnostic condition but not in the nondiagnostic condition (with Scholastic Aptitude Tests controlled). Study 3 validated that ability-diagnosticity cognitively activated the racial stereotype in these participants and motivated them not to conform to it, or to be judged by it. Study 4 showed that mere salience of the stereotype could impair Blacks' performance even when the test was not ability diagnostic. The role of stereotype vulnerability in the standardized test performance of ability-stigmatized groups is discussed.
Stress is widely thought to lead to overeating. Studies of stress-induced eating have tested two models. One has tested whether stress increases eating in all exposed organisms and has been tested primarily with animals and physical stressors. The other has tested individual differences in vulnerability to stress-induced eating and has tested only human subjects and psychological stressors. The most consistent set of findings shows that "restrained" eating predicts vulnerability among women; we conclude that for the stressors studied to date, the individual-difference model has received stronger support. Because the question motivating much of this research is whether stress-induced eating causes obesity, future research should assess the effect of stress on weight-change more directly.
Choice, active response, self-regulation, and other volition may all draw on a common inner resource. In Experiment 1, people who forced themselves to eat radishes instead of tempting chocolates subsequently quit faster on unsolvable puzzles than people who had not had to exert self-control over eating. In Experiment 2, making a meaningful personal choice to perform attitude-relevant behavior caused a similar decrement in persistence. In Experiment 3, suppressing emotion led to a subsequent drop in performance of solvable anagrams. In Experiment 4, an initial task requiring high self-regulation made people more passive (i.e., more prone to favor the passive-response option). These results suggest that the self's capacity for active volition is limited and that a range of seemingly different, unrelated acts share a common resource.
Emotion reduces utilization of cues. In some tasks this can be an advantage (elimination of irrelevant cues); more often, however, such reduction inhibits performance. Attentive behavior fits into the framework of this theory. It can also be easily translated into terms of information theory allowing a qualitative evaluation of task difficulty.
This article proposes that binge eating is motivated by a desire to escape from self-awareness. Binge eaters suffer from high standards and expectations, especially an acute sensitivity to the difficult (perceived) demands of others. When they fall short of these standards, they develop an aversive pattern of high self-awareness, characterized by unflattering views of self and concern over how they are perceived by others. These aversive self-perceptions are accompanied by emotional distress, which often includes anxiety and depression. To escape from this unpleasant state, binge eaters attempt the cognitive response of narrowing attention to the immediate stimulus environment and avoiding broadly meaningful thought. This narrowing of attention disengages normal inhibitions against eating and fosters an uncritical acceptance of irrational beliefs and thoughts. The escape model is capable of integrating much of the available evidence about binge eating.
This article comments on a recent article by Heatherton, Herman, and Polivy (1991) in which they suggest that ego threats are a prerequisite to affectively induced disinhibition of food intake in restrained eaters and current dieters. In contrast, the present review suggests that mood induction procedures that involve no apparent ego threat (e.g., viewing a frightening film) can also prompt disinhibition in restrained eaters. Thus, any mood induction procedure that does not directly physically threaten the S may disinhibit restrained eaters. It is concluded that recommendations to focus future research on ego threats are premature and may serve to obscure the mechanisms by which changes in affective state influence food intake in dieters.
A solution is suggested for an old unresolved social psychological problem.
Dieters and nondieters were exposed to self-referent or non-self-referent mood induction procedures, and food intake was subsequently recorded. In Study 1, both task failure and musical mood induction led to significantly increased eating among dieters. In Study 2, dieters and nondieters were exposed to sad or neutral music and half of the subjects were told that music might make them feel momentarily sad. The addition of an attributional label to the mood induction procedure eliminated the disinhibited eating that was observed in the unlabeled condition (for dieters). Study 3 demonstrated that only self-relevant negative mood disinhibits dieters. It is concluded that only those mood states that implicate the self promote self-regulatory failure. These results are discussed within the escape from self-awareness hypothesis of binge eating behavior.
The major patterns of self-regulatory failure are reviewed. Underregulation occurs because of deficient standards, inadequate monitoring, or inadequate strength. Misregulation occurs because of false assumptions or misdirected efforts, especially an unwarranted emphasis on emotion. The evidence supports a strength (limited resource) model of self-regulation and suggests that people often acquiesce in losing control. Loss of control of attention, failure of transcendence, and various lapse-activated causes all contribute to regulatory failure.
Reports studies to examine the hypothesis that obese persons are more responsive to external cues and less to internal physiological cues associated with hunger, than nonobese persons. Various experiments were carried out in which preliminary eating, fear, circumstances of eating, and manipulating time were related to amounts eaten by normal and obese Ss under controlled conditions. In addition, other studies on effects of taste, fasting, choice of eating place, and time-zone changes on eating patterns of obese and nonobese Ss are reviewed. Results consistently support the finding that the obese are "relatively insensitive to variations in the physiological correlates of food deprivation but highly sensitive to environmental, food-related cues . . . ." These findings help to explain why many weight control programs for the obese are temporary in their effectiveness. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Restrained eaters have been found to overeat after various events or so-called disinhibitors, such as eating a preload or strong emotional states. Little research has focused on why such events lead to a break of the restrained eaters' control and to overeating. The present study examines the role of cognitive distraction as a possible mechanism underlying these effects. Two experiments were conducted, both designed to test hypotheses derived from Wegner's Ironic Process Theory and focusing on the behavioural consequences of cognitive control over eating. In both experiments subjects were tested in a 2 (restrained/unrestrained) by 2 (distraction/no distraction) design. The results do not confirm the prediction flowing from the Ironic Process Theory: cognitive distraction does not lead to overeating in restrained eaters. Implications of these findings for the Boundary Model are also discussed.
ABSTRACT Dieting and nondieting subjects were given either failure or neutral performance feedback on a problem-solving task. Failure subjects were then assigned to one of three self-awareness conditions: One group was forced to watch a video clip of themselves failing on the problem-solving task, one group was asked to watch a distracting video clip on bighorn sheep, and the final group was asked to sit quietly for 10 minutes. Subjects were then allowed to eat as much ice cream as they wanted. Only in those conditions which allowed—or promoted—low self-awareness (the failure/distraction and simple failure condition) did dieters show disinhibited eating. In the failure/videotape condition, which enforced high levels of self-awareness, eating in dieters remained inhibited. This supports the proposal that a reduction in self-awareness is necessary for lifting of inhibitions. Eating in nondieters was reduced in the failure/videotape and simple failure conditions, possibly because of the autonomic correlates of distress.
Prior knowledge was varied in problem solving, thinking, and reading tasks in three experiments. The hypothesis was that the prior knowledge used in a cognitive task uses capacity in the same limited capacity active processing system that is used to process the ongoing task. In a reading experiment, prior knowledge about a target page was manipulated by controlling the preceding pages. In an experiment dealing with problem solving in the context of a chess game, prior knowledge was controlled by comparing experts with novices. In a third study subjects thought about personality descriptions of persons and groups, and about women's fashions and football plays; it was assumed that persons have more prior knowledge concerning the personality of persons than the personality of groups, that women have more prior knowledge about women's fashions, and that men have more prior knowledge about football. In all experiments, use of cognitive capacity in task performance was observed with a secondary task technique. The results of all three experiments were consistent with the hypothesis that prior knowledge uses capacity in the active processing system. The prior knowledge hypothesis is consistent with some aspects of current cognitive theory but not consistent with others. The results also suggest a fundamental and unexpected limit on the cognitive processing of experts.
Based on Zimbardo's (1970) theory of deindividuation and Duval and Wicklund's (1972) theory of “objective self-awareness” it was predicted that self-awareness would lead to a decrease in transgressive behavior. Subjects were either made self-aware (seated in front of a mirror listening to their own tape-recorded voice) or nonself-aware (seated to the side of the mirror listening to another's voice) and were given an opportunity to cheat on an anagrams test. Significantly more cheated in the nonself-aware condition (71%) than in the self-aware condition (7%). The results support the basic premise of deindividuation theory that self-awareness influences impulsive, counternormative behavior and suggest that an integration of the theories of deindividuation and objective self-awareness is possible.
An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of alcohol (administered without the subjects' awareness) on the eating behavior of normally restrained and unrestrained eaters. Consumption was assessed in a taste-rating context. The results indicated that when disinhibitory cognitive or social cues are unavailable, alcohol does not release the suppressed eating of restrained eaters, but rather counteracts the disinhibitory effects of anxiety. The experimental findings were interpreted as providing indirect support for Pliner & Cappell's (1974) labelling model of alcohol intoxication.
The concept of ‘self-control,” until recently embedded in intrapsychic personality theories and banished from strict behavioral accounts of human activity, is considered from the perspective of a closed-loop learning paradigm. In considering self-regulatory and self-control behavior, an attempt is made (1) to extricate these concepts from the realm of philosophical debate on the image of man, (2) to point to their growing relevance in the context of rapidly changing environments, (3) to provide behavioral definitions and a tentative and testable process model, and (4) to outline their clinical (therapeutic) implications. The current conceptualization emphasizes (a) the contractual elements in self-control, (b) the critical importance of insuring the link between intentions (often of a verbal variety) and behavioral execution, and (c) the interdependence of external and internal controlling variables. In a larger context, the paper seeks to show how man's “selfreflectiveness” can be incorporated within an empirically based behavior theory. Suggestions for research are presented.
Assessed the effects of alcohol on the eating behavior of normally restrained and unrestrained eaters. The icecream consumption of 55 female college students was measured in a taste rating context following their consumption of alcohol or placebo, the label of which was systematically manipulated. In the absence of a disinhibitory label, alcohol served as a mood elevator (with consumption decreasing for restrained eaters and increasing for unrestrained eaters), replicating the authors' 1976 findings. Alcohol disinhibited the consumption of normally restrained eaters only when supplemented by a disinhibitory label. Results are interpreted as support for a cognitive/pharmacological interaction model of alcohol intoxication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In the present study, restrained subjects failed to regulate their ice-cream intake after a preload of milkshakes, while unrestrained subjects succeeded. Restraint was not related to irrational thinking patterns, as reflected by scores on the Rational Behavior Inventory (RBI) and the Irrational Belief Test (IBT). During the disinhibitive challenge, the self-talk of the subjects was recorded on tape. Restrained subjects in a disinhibition challenge, i.e. preload condition, were expected to report significantly more disinhibitive thoughts than restrained subjects in a no-preload condition. Unrestrained subjects were expected to report no disinhibitive self-talk at all. The authors failed to find experimental confirmation for the widely held view that dichotomous thoughts such as “I've blown my diet, I might as well continue to eat” disinhibit restrained eaters.
In a first experiment, subjects verbalizing the stream of consciousness for a 5-min period were asked to try not to think of a white bear, but to ring a bell in case they did. As indicated both by mentions and by bell rings, they were unable to suppress the thought as instructed. On being asked after this suppression task to think about the white bear for a 5-min period, these subjects showed significantly more tokens of thought about the bear than did subjects who were asked to think about a white bear from the outset. These observations suggest that attempted thought suppression has paradoxical effects as a self-control strategy, perhaps even producing the very obsession or preoccupation that it is directed against. A second experiment replicated these findings and showed that subjects given a specific thought to use as a distracter during suppression were less likely to exhibit later preoccupation with the thought to be suppressed.
120 female undergraduates who were restrained or unrestrained eaters (as determined by the Restraint Scale and the Binge Scale) consumed a milk shake preload and then taste-tested ice cream. All Ss were provided with the same amount of ice cream, but it was presented either in small or large bowls accompanied or not accompanied by accurate information about its caloric content. The double-experimental condition (small-bowl/labeled) produced regulatory eating in restrained and unrestrained Ss. Conversely, both groups counterregulated in the control condition (large-bowl/unlabeled). When only 1 of the 2 experimental procedures was operational, restrained eaters used bigger spoonfuls to consume more than unrestrained eaters; restrained eaters also disproportionately lowered their caloric estimates of their consumption only in these 2 cells. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Seventy women students were tested on a short battery of tasks assessing cognitive performance. They also completed self-report ratings of mood, the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) to which was appended several additional items concerning their recent dieting behaviour, and a 24-h dietary recall. Heart rate was measured before and after testing. Compared with nondieting subjects with low to moderate scores on the restraint factor of the DEBQ, subjects (n = 15) who reported that they were currently dieting to lose weight displayed impaired performance on a vigilance task and also tended to show poorer immediate memory and longer reaction times. Highly restrained eaters who were not dieting at the time of testing, on the whole, performed at an intermediate level on these tests. In contrast, the dieters tended to show the best performance on an undemanding finger tapping task, indicating that they were not slowed in their fine motor responses or lacking in motivation to carry out the tasks. Poorer cognitive functioning during dieting could arise as a direct consequence of the effects of food restriction on energy metabolism or other physiological mechanisms--the dietary records indicated that the current dieters were eating at about 70% of maintenance energy requirement. However, it is also possible that cognitive performance is impaired during dieting due to anxiety resulting from stressful effects of imposing and maintaining dietary restraint.