1. 1

2. Starter
O In pairs - list as many diets as you can?
O Do you think diets are successful?
O Think of as many reasons as you can as
to why diets are or are not successful.
2

4. Dieting?
O Usually involves trying to eat
less than usual – placing a
cognitive limit on food intake
and attempting to eat up to a
limit that is less than what a
person would normally eat
(less than our daily
recommended allowance).
Up to 70% of
women diet at
some point in their
lives.

5. What makes a person decide
to go on a diet?
Write down 3 reasons on the mind map
Why do people diet?

6. Three types of diets:
O 1 : restricting the total amount of food
eaten
O 2: refraining from eating certain types of
food
O 3 : Avoiding eating for long periods of time

7. Dieting most often due to Body
dissatisfaction
But what factors contribute to body
dissatisfaction?
Ogden, 2007:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Media influence
Family
Ethnicity
Social Class
Peer groups & social learning
7

8. O How many females do you think will
consciously reduce their food intake in their
lifetime?
O89% et al
1987
Kleges

9. Restrained Eaters
O Restrained = restricted, holding back
O A ‘restrained eater’ is someone who is
trying to eat less (i.e. Dieting)

10. Restrained eating (dieting)
O Research (laboratory
studies) has shown that
restrained eaters often
overeat.

11. 1) Restraint Theory
Herman & Mack (1975)
O Attempting not to eat actually increases
the probability of overeating (see next
study)
O Explained by the ‘Boundary Model’
O NOTE: RESTRAINED EATER = DIETER
11

12. Herman & Polivy’s
BOUNDARY MODEL (1984)
O We all have a
biological/physiological
boundary for food intake.

13. O But restrained eaters
(dieters) have a cognitive
boundary as well.
O This is much less than
the biological one.

14. Two potential boundaries for
Physiologi intake
food
cal
Cognitive
O Set by the body weight set-
point
O The body’s fat stores act as
a ‘body-weight set-point’.
O Under normal
circumstances
mechanisms controlling
food intake do not allow for
much weight fluctuation.
O Set by the individual
O In restrained eaters this
is less than the
physiological boundary.

15. Food intake boundaries
Unrestrained
eater
O Eats until satiety
(fullness).
O The physiological
boundary determined by
their body weight setpoint.
Restrained
eater
O Eats until they reach
their cognitive boundary
(set by themselves).

16. O The problem is once the
cognitive boundary has
been crossed there is a
disinhibition effect
O = ‘What the hell’.

17. O This can result in
the person
carrying on eating
and even crossing
the biological
boundary.

18. Early research
O
O
O
O
Herman and Mack (1975)
One of the earliest studies using the
preload/test method.
Participants = 45 female students told it
was a study on taste experiences
Independent design
3 conditions – 15 participants in each

19. 3 conditions
O 1 = no preload
O 2 = preload = one
milkshake – asked to
rate the taste quality
O 3 = preload = two
milkshakes –asked to
rate the taste quality

20. O All 3 groups then
given three tubs of
ice cream of different
flavours
O Given 10 minutes to
rate their taste
qualities
O Told they could eat
as much of the ice
cream as they
wanted

21. O All participants
were given a
questionnaire to
assess their
degree of
dietary restraint.

22. O Each of the 3 groups
were divided into
high restraint or low
restraint depending
on their answers
given on the
questionnaire.

23. O LOW RESTRAINT
O This was AS EXPECTED
GROUP
O Ate less ice cream in the
2 milk shake condition
than in the one or none
group.
O They feel fuller after the
2 milk shakes and can’t
eat as much ice-cream.

24. Method
O Given 3 different flavoured tubs
of ice cream
O Given 10 minutes to rate them
O Told they could eat as much as
they wanted
O Afterwards they answered a
questionnaire to assess whether
they were restrained eaters

25. O HIGH RESTRAINT
GROUP
O Ate significantly
more ice cream in
the one and two
milk shake
conditions than in
the zero milk shake
condition.

26. O Herman and Mack found
a significant positive
correlation across all
participants between the
eating restraint
questionnaire and
amount eaten after two
preloads (milk shakes).
O The higher the restraint
score, the more they ate
after 2 milkshakes.

27. O The results support
a boundary model
of dietary restraint.
O Restrained eaters
have a ‘cognitive’
dieting boundary for
food intake.

28. What the hell-effect?
O Eating is
disinhibited
because the
restrained eater
feels they’ve
already ‘blown it’ so
they might as well
carry on.

29. Restrained eater in Herman and
Mack’s study
Low calorie preload
(one or zero milk shake)
High calorie preload (2
milk shakes)
O Is still within the diet
O Pushed beyond the
boundary
O In the ‘taste test’ eats
enough to reach this
boundary (not much)
cognitive boundary
before the taste test (ice
cream).
O This disinhibits their
feeding behaviour and
they simply eat until they
reach the physiological
boundary (more than in
the preload condition).

30. Evaluation of methodology
O The restraint questionnaire was given
after the feeding tests so the division of
each group into high and low-restraint
groups was post-hoc (done after the study
had been carried out).
O Ideally this should be done before but
Herman and Mack felt that this would
have led to demand characteristics.

31. O This meant that there were unequal
numbers in the high- and low-restraint
groups (e.g. 9 high-restraint and 6 lowrestraint in the 2nd condition).
O This uneven pattern reduces the reliability
of the findings.

32. O Group sizes were quite small especially
after the division into high- and lowrestraint participants.
O Some participants may have liked ice
cream more or less than others. Three
varieties were provided to try to deal with
this, but it is still possible that dislike of ice
cream (or particular liking) may have
biased the findings.

33. The Boundary Model
Hunge
r
No Preload
Satiet
y
Unrestrained
Eaters
Preload
O Unrestrained eater eats until satisfied (as
determined by their body weight set point

34. The Boundary Model
Hunge
r
Satiet
y
Restrained
Eaters
No Preload
Preload
Cognitive
O Restrained eater eats until reach cognitive boundary (as
boundary
determined by themselves)
O Low-cal preload means they stay within their boundary
O High-cal preload means they are pushed beyond their
boundary which disinhibits their feeding behaviour so eat until
satisfied

35. Evaluation of Theory
 Does not explain why we become
disinhibited
Implications for obesity Overeating may be a
consequence of restraint if this is recommended
as a treatment.
 Limited relevance Can’t explain how
anorexics never experience the disinhibition
effect.

36. Over eating
O Herman and Polivy (1980) suggested
that there is a causal link between
dieting and binging.
O ‘Restraint not only precedes over-
eating but contributes to its causality’
O The theory is that attempting not to
eat will increase the probability of you
over eating.

37. Key study: Wardle and Beales (1988)
O Aim: to investigate whether
dieting resulted in over
eating
O Procedure: lab procedure
assessing food intake at 4
and 6 weeks. Pp’s
randomly assigned to diet
group, exercise group or
control.
O Participants:27 obese
women.
O Findings: Pp’s in diet
condition ate more than
those in exercise and
control group.
Key strengths:
•Experimental
design, which means
manipulation could
take place: diet v’s
not dieting.
• Random allocation
of pp’s to conditions.
•Lab conditions: high
control
•A non student
sample: results
should be more
generalisable.
Supports causal link between
dieting and over eating.
Tested
the causal
analysis
of over
eating
Key weaknesses:
•Small sample size
•Pp’s alternative
agenda? Did they
comply with what they
were asked to do?
•Non- natural setting:
what kind of problems
might this bring?

38. Denial
O When denying ourselves
something it often has the
opposite effect
The theory of ironic processes of
mental control
O Attempts to suppress thoughts
about particular things only
serves to increase preoccupation
with them
O Restrained eaters
O Bulimics
O Anorexics
38

39. White Bear Study
O Wegner at al (1987)
O Asked some participants to NOT THINK about
a white bear and ring the bell when they do
O Also asked other participants to THINK about
the bear
O THOSE THAT WERE TOLD TO NOT THINK
ABOUT THE BEAR RANG THEIR BELLS
MORE OFTEN.
39

40. Applying this to real life.
O Have a think about how you might
feel if you are told not to do
something.
O For example ‘do not look at the big
spot on your teachers nose’
O What is the first thing that you are
going to do?
Eating food works on the
same principle: if you
wake up and you decide
you are not going to eat
chocolate today, you will
crave and want to eat
chocolate all day.
With this in mind:
what problems might
health professionals
face when trying to
help people to eat
less?

41. Evaluation of theory of ironic
processes/denial
O Wegner himself acknowledges that the
effects observed in experimental research
in this area are small
41

42. Evaluation of failure of dieting
research
Strengths
Use of experimental
research: ensuring that key
variables are manipulated and
controlled.
Finding reflect peoples
experiences: reflect experiences of
many people who have tried to lose
weight by limiting what they eat.
Weaknesses:
Limitation of restraint as a
explanatory theory: How
could it explain the eating
behaviour of people suffering
from anorexia? How do they
manage to starve themselves
when they spend most of
their lives restricting their
food intake.
Laboratory experiment:
Most of the studies used to
support evidence of dieting
has been conducted in a
laboratory experiment.
Therefore lack ecological
validity.

43. What leads to success in
dieting?
O Not feeling bored - variety
O Redden (2008) Jelly Bean experiment
O Redden had participants eat 22 fruit-flavoured jelly beans (cherry, orange, strawberry,
peach, tangerine) while rating their enjoyment. At the end, participants were asked to
indicate how repetitive the eating task felt, how similar the jelly beans seemed to each
other, and how much variety they perceived.
O People given specific flavour labels (e.g., cherry) became less bored and fed up and
kept enjoying the jellybeans longer than people given the general label of 'jellybean',"
O Redden reveals. In other words, though everyone ate the same variety of jellybeans,
people who were just given "jellybeans" to eat as opposed to "tangerine jellybeans"
and "strawberry jellybeans" gave lower assessments as the experiment wore on,
though both groups rated the jellybeans about equally toward the beginning of the
experiment.
43

44. Theories of Dieting Success
SUCCESS IN DIETING
– Redden (2008)
The key is to pay
attention to the detail.
135 participants
Each given 22 jelly
beans.
GROUP ONE
GROUP TWO
General information
given
Specific information
Bean number 7
Cherry flavoured bean
number 8
Participants got bored with eating beans faster if they saw the
general information and enjoyed task more with specific info.

45. Success of Dieting- Redden
O This research shows the decline in enjoyment of an eating
regime depends on how much repetition people perceive,
O The study also has implications for our understandings of
dieting. Variety of categories is especially useful when facing
limited options or following a repetitive regimen.
O The research establishes that subcategorization offers people
the potential to make their lives more enjoyable."
45

46. O Redden (2008)- Secret to sucessful
dieting is in the detail.
O The dreaded salad – ‘not another salad’,
O Should focus on the type of tomatoes in it
or the salad leaves e.g. rocket etc.

47. Research has found...
O A number of psychological variables influence the
success of dieting:
Rodin et al (1977)
carried out a study to
assess the baseline
psychological predictors
of successful weight
loss. They found that
individuals beliefs about
the cause of obesity and
motivation for weight
loss played an important
role.
Williams et al
(1996) also
reported that
motivational
style was
predictive of
weight loss and
weight
motivation.
Kiernan et al (1998)
reported that
individuals who were
dissatisfied with their
body shape at baseline
were more successful at
dieting.
They suggested that
motivation for weight
loss and a high value
placed on
attractiveness may be
important.

48. Study: Ogden and Mills (2008)
O The study:
Interviewed pp’s who
had lost weight and
maintained their
weight loss.
O Findings: pp’s
reported that much of
their weight loss had
been triggered by a
key life event, e.g:
divorce, illness or a
milestone (like turning
40!).
This initial behaviour was then
translated into long term
behaviour change if a number
of sustaining conditions were
met:
A belief in a
behavioural model
of obesity
A reduction in the
benefits and
function of eating
A process of
reinvention (no
longer seeing
themselves as an
over weight person )

49. Study: Ogden and Mills (2008)
continued ....
O The results suggested that it is not only what individuals
do that is predictive of success, but also what they
believe. For dieting to be successful, a person needs to:
Hold a model of obesity that
focuses on behaviour as
central to their weight problem
Create a situation whereby
food is no longer considered as
rewarding.
Avoid a state of denial whereby
they want to eat but do not.
Establish a new identity as a
thinner person

50. Social support- dieting success
Successful weight loss is strongly
associated with social support, according
to Psychology Today. There are many
options available.
Non-profit Support Groups
Commercial Diet Program Support
Internet Weight-Loss Communities
Weight-Management Coaching
Support Through Social Media
50

51. Dieting success
O Psychologist Sherry Pagoto advises dieters to seek social
support through social media. ‘Consider starting your own
blog or making use of Facebook or Twitter to find a
supportive social circle of like-minded individuals.’
51

52. Successful weight loss
O Can be achieved if combined with life-style
changes:
- Physical exercise
- Group and individual support
- Self-monitoring
- Perhaps the most successful way to lose
weight is not dieting but following a healthy
eating plan
52

53. 5 diet success stories
O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-ZV-
v7SLLk
O Can you see any similarities to research
findings discussed this lesson?

54. Evaluation
O Concerns over effectiveness and potential
damaging effects of many diet programmes led to
shows aimed at replacing dieting with healthy
eating.
O A meta-analysis of anti-dieting shows found
participants improved in both eating behaviour
and psychological wellbeing as well as weight
stability rather than weight change.
54

55. IDA
O Culturally biased
O Research tends to be Eurocentric
O Some cultures find it more difficult to diet because of a
natural inclination for obesity (Park et al, 2001)
O Gender biased
O Mostly women volunteer
O Ironically excess weight is more detrimental for men
O However research is changing with greater awareness of
cultural variations in eating behaviour and gender
differences
55