Success and Failure of Dieting

Question 1

What two theories explain the reason for failure of diets?

Answer 1

• Restraint Theory (Herman & Mack)
• Role of Denial Theory

Question 2

Outline Restraint Theory.

Answer 2

• ‘Restrained eaters’ (AKA dieters) use a ‘self imposed cognitive boundary’ to make decisions about what, how and when to eat.
• eg. i will limit myself to 1500 calories a day
• this is the system used by Weight Watchers and Slimming World
• This ‘self imposed cognitive boundary’ overides natural, physiological boundaries that are set by the body and thefore ignore feelings of hunger and satiety
• Therefore, they may eat when not hungry or stop eating when hungry
• If you do not eat when hungry you are likely to either:
  A) end up ober eating
  B) turn to HFSS confort foods
• If they do give in and eat something that is not allowed by their diet they may experience ‘what the hell effect’ where you feel like you have already failed so you abandon your diet and overeat.

Question 3

Outline Role of Denial Theory.

Answer 3

• One of the ways people diet is to deny themselves certain food groups.
• Denying yourself certian foods can lead you to obsess about that food, leading to strong craving and making it hard to resist.
• The ‘ironic precess of mental control’ (porcess of denial) can be used in conjunction with Restraint Theory to explain the failure of diets.

Question 4

Give research to support What the Hell Effect.

Question 5

What research supports role of denial theory (ironic process of mental control)?

Question 6

What are the practical applications of a psychological understanding of why diets fail?

Answer 6

• we can consider wheight loss programs more likely to work

Question 7

What methodological problems are there with the research in this area?

Question 8

What wider issues are associated with failure of dieting explanations?

Answer 8

• _Reductionism: _
  -not all diets fail
  -theory doesnt explain why people with Anorexia Nervosa can starve themselves
  -this may require a more biological explanation whereas restraint and denial theory rely on the cognitive approach
• _Gender Bias: _
  much of the research relies on femaile participants and therefore lacks population validity because we cannot be certain that men experience the same cognitive processes in their experience of dieting - it has been found that men are better at supressing thoughts of hunger