Explanations For The Failure Of Dieting

Question 0

Role of denial

Answer 0

• TIPMC: attempts to suppress/deny a thought has opposite effect.
• Makes the thought even more prominent.
• Central to any diet; decision not to eat certain food/eat less of that food.
• state of denial as suppress thoughts about forbidden food
• ^preoccupation with FF ie chocolate
• So once food is denied it simultaneously becomes more attractive

Question 1

Boundary model

Answer 1

• BM exp how diets fail and lead to over-eating.
• Dieting an often unrealistic CogBou set by person limit food intake
• Physio body-weight set point exists alongside cog boundary
• Dieter eat until cognitive boundary determined by diet reached, but will still be hungry, Over time distance hunger/satiation too much
• Eventually break through boundary; find it V difficult to stop eating beyond satiation = Disinhibition behaviour and occurs often in response to emotional distress.

Question 2

Herman and Mack: preload

Answer 2

• Gave dieters and non dieters either ^ or v calorie preload.
• Found non dieters used compensatory regulatory behaviour thus ate less during the taste test.
• Dieters ate more during test if ^ calorie preload than v calorie preload.
• TF if dieters CB overcome by preload, disinhibition behaviour kicks in and the diet fails.

Question 3

Laessle: Restricting anorexics/400kcal/Vegetarians

Answer 3

• // theory cannot explain the behaviour of restricting anorexics, as if trying not to eat results in overeating then those with anorexia would not be able to starve themselves (Ogden)
• FM Laessle found; some dieters can successfully v calorific intake by 400 kcal and eat less ^fat and carb foods than non dieters
• If claim that all dieters overeat was correct then popular vegan/vegetarian lifestyles would not be as successful, as these require CB and in cases extreme thought suppression.

Question 4

restricting anorexics tho

Answer 4

• //Could be refuted as restricting anorexics highly unrepresentative of regular dieters as there are a lot of neurotic factors at work.
• Such Claims dont adequately undermine BM bc focus on a niche group of the population.

Question 5

Psychology as a science

Answer 5

• BM built on foundation of controlled lab R; variables are isolated and both CaE and Replicability are established.
• Thus BM ^IV/reliability so meets Popper et al criteria for a science.
• // bc of artificial conditions in which R carried out it lacks EcoV
• Difficult to generalise to dieting in a nat env where gender, culture and self esteem become involved.

Question 6

Wegner: ES ROD (white bear)

Answer 6

• Found out of 505 pps, those told not to think about a white bear rang bell indicating thought of the bear more often than pps instructed to think of the bear.
• AT, Wegner admits evidence for IP in Lab, far from overwhelming due to confounding variables
• Bell becoming associated with bear = classical conditioning.

Question 7

Soeten et al: (Overeaters+Though suppression)

Answer 7

• Further ES for ROD in dieting
• Found pps who tried to eat less but often overeat use more thought suppression than other dieters and showed a rebound effect after DI beh

Question 8

Alternative exp: Basal metabolic rate

Answer 8

• Cognitive models (ROD) narrow/limited bc ignore role of BF
• Dieting to v weight below bodies set point difficult bc body always aims to return to SP; reducing BMR (increasing hunger).
• Lower BMR v EE makes weight loss difficult even on a diet.
• BMR = valid alternative explanation for complex nature of dieting but if used in conjunction with BM and ROD theories will allow for Holism in the explanation.

Question 9

Ogden: psychological model of obesity (SOD)

Answer 9

• Psych V’s identified as key factors in successful dieting.
• Rodin found what individuals believed about causes of obesity and motivation for weight loss played a key role.
• Ogden found WLM more likely use PR to exp their diet as opposed to a medical explanation.
• PR include consequences of obesity (low self esteem), their motivations for weight loss (boost self esteem) and what they believe causes their own obesity (individual behaviour).
• She suggested its not just what people do that is predictive of successful weight loss but also what they believe.

Question 10

Ogden: ES for PMO

Answer 10

• Studied WLM/WLR using questionnaires.
• Found WLM more often used PMOB to exp their dieting behaviour eg -ve consequences i.e depression and low self esteem.
• Motivated v weight for PR; ^self esteem rather than peer pressure.
• FM WLM less inclined to use medical excuse SM/Low thyroid

Question 11

Questionnaires

Answer 11

• // questionnaires = SDB
• Many dieters delude themselves about FI and exercise levels.
• R shows obese people on v calorie diet underestimated FI by 47% and overestimated exercise levels by 51%.
• TF IV of findings for dieting R questionable meaning exp potentially invalid.

Question 12

Free will v determinism

Answer 12

• AT Ogdens exp suggest individuals can excercise free will over dieting behaviour, having +ve implications in long term weight loss.
• R into genetics found dieting not always under individual’s control.
• Believed some obese people suffer innate Leptin resistance; insensitive to somatic signals to eat less.
• Hence overeat and dieting/long term WL is unsuccessful.
• In contrast to psychological models, this indicates dieting is biologically determined TF we cannot “treat” obesity rather we should focus on preventing it by promoting healthy lifestyle.