Does Cognitive Distraction Lead to Overeating in Restrained Eaters?
- 1 October 1997
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy
- Vol. 25 (4), 319-327
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s1352465800018725
Abstract
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.This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Ironic processes of mental control.Psychological Review, 1994
- The effects of dieting on eating behavior: A three-factor model.Psychological Bulletin, 1993
- Nonregulation of food intake in restrained, emotional, and external eatersJournal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 1988
- The effects of self-attention and public attention on eating in restrained and unrestrained subjects.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986
- Dietary restraint: A theoretical and empirical review.Psychological Bulletin, 1986
- Restraint theory and its applicability to overweight individuals.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1983
- The effects of taste and caloric perceptions on the eating behavior of restrained and unrestrained subjectsCognitive Therapy and Research, 1981
- Weight, restraint, cognitions and counterregulationBehaviour Research and Therapy, 1979
- Binge eating as a function of restraint and weight classification.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1979
- Internal and external components of emotionality in restrained and unrestrained eaters.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1978