The motivation to diet in young women: Fear is stronger than hope

This research examined the relative impact of a hoped‐for, thin body and a feared, overweight body on weight‐loss dieting (WLD) motivation. We hypothesised that the women most motivated to engage in WLD would report a higher similarity to, and a higher cognitive availability of, a feared, overweight...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of social psychology 2011-08, Vol.41 (5), p.672-680
Main Authors: Dalley, Simon E., Buunk, Abraham P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Motivation
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
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Summary:This research examined the relative impact of a hoped‐for, thin body and a feared, overweight body on weight‐loss dieting (WLD) motivation. We hypothesised that the women most motivated to engage in WLD would report a higher similarity to, and a higher cognitive availability of, a feared, overweight body. In study 1, WLD motivation was operationalized as WLD intention and in study 2 as a food choice (chocolate bar versus low‐fat snack bar). As expected, those most similar to the feared body and who had a highly available overweight body had the greatest intention to engage in WLD, and were more likely to choose a low‐fat snack over a chocolate bar. The implications of our findings for future research as well as the development of eating pathology in college women are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0046-2772
1099-0992
DOI:10.1002/ejsp.816