Tempting Food Research Articles

Indirect exposure to food temptations: Effects of exposure to chocolate-scented lotion on intake

Indirect exposure to food temptations: Effects of exposure to chocolate-scented lotion on intake

“Instant Success”

Contrary to lay intuition, counteractive control theory posits that tempting food cues can help individuals to act in accordance with their long-term dieting goal. However, studies have shown that temptations trigger goal-directed behavior only in successful but not in unsuccessful self-regulators. The aim of the present study was to test whether it is possible to create facilitated temptation-goal associations in unsuccessful dieters using implementation intentions (e.g., "If I see or smell chocolate then I will follow my goal to diet") and whether this indeed stimulates more successful self-regulation. It was found that implementation intentions linking a temptation to a dieting goal lead to self-perceived improved resistance to (Study 1) as well as reduced consumption (Study 2) of tempting snacks compared to a control condition. Moreover, Study 2 revealed that the reduced snack consumption was indeed related to facilitated temptation-goal associations in participants who had formed implementation intentions.

Implementation intentions as goal primes: Boosting self‐control in tempting environments

AbstractPeople often forget their long‐term strivings because their environment confronts them with attractive temptations. Previous research suggests that self‐control failures can be prevented by reminding people of their higher‐order goal. Therefore, we hypothesized that using implementation intentions as a tool to directly re‐activate people's higher‐order goal in tempting situations would effectively enhance self‐control. We tested this in the domain of dieting behavior. Results demonstrated that this specific planning strategy activated the dieting goal for unsuccessful dieters when exposed to tempting food cues (Study 1) and reduced their consumption of calorically dense food across 2 weeks (Study 2) compared to those in control conditions. This suggests that preparing people to think of their higher‐order goal when tempted can be used to protect ongoing goal striving. Appealing to higher‐order goals potentially makes implementation intentions flexible instruments of self‐regulation as this should trigger motivated behavior to reach goals and initiate various goal‐instrumental actions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

From Firm Muscles to Firm Willpower: Understanding the Role of Embodied Cognition in Self-Regulation

Across five studies, we show that firming one's muscles can help firm willpower and that firmed willpower mediates one's ability to withstand immediate pain, overcome food temptation, consume unpleasant medicines, and attend to immediately disturbing but essential information, provided that doing so is seen as providing long-term benefits. We draw on theories of embodied cognition to explain our results, and we add to that literature by showing for the first time that one’s body can help firm willpower and facilitate the self-regulation essential for the attainment of long-term goals.

As Pleasure Unfolds

Why do chronic dieters often violate their dieting goals? One possibility is that they experience stronger hedonic responses to tempting food than normal eaters do. We scrutinized hedonic processing in dieters and normal eaters (a) by manipulating food preexposure and (b) by assessing both immediate and delayed hedonic responses to tempting food with an adapted affect-misattribution procedure. Without food preexposure, dieters showed less positive hedonic responses than normal eaters (Study 1). When preexposed to tempting-food stimuli, however, dieters exhibited more positive delayed hedonic responses than normal eaters (Studies 1 and 2). Furthermore, delayed hedonic responding was meaningfully related to self-reported power of food and state cravings (Study 2). These findings suggest that dieters experience difficulties in down-regulating hedonic affect when in a “hot” state and that self-regulation research may benefit from a greater emphasis on temporal dynamics rather than static differences.

Through the eyes of dieters: Biased size perception of food following tempting food primes

Why do some dieters succeed in controlling their diet while others do not? This research focused on a perceptual process—size perception of food objects—that may moderate the success of dieters in self-control dilemmas. We assessed successful and unsuccessful dieters' size perception of palatable food (Study 1) and diet-food (Study 2) after pre-exposing them to tempting food primes. Dieters perceived palatable food as bigger when primed with tempting food (vs. control prime), regardless of self-regulatory success in dieting (Study 1). Palatable food thus looms larger for both unsuccessful and successful dieters when in a “hot” state. In contrast, the perceived size of diet-food was increased by a tempting food prime only for successful dieters, but decreased for unsuccessful dieters (Study 2). These results are interpreted in terms of differences in the mental accessibility of competing goals (eating enjoyment vs. dieting) in successful vs. unsuccessful dieters. Indeed, when the dieting goal was made accessible for all dieters by a diet prime, even unsuccessful dieters perceived diet-food as bigger (Study 2). This research provides insight into a perceptual process that may be detrimental or beneficial in resolving self-control conflicts in the domain of eating and dieting behavior—and probably other domains of self-control as well.

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Associations with Overeating and Obesity

In the past decade, we have become increasingly aware of strong associations between overweight/obesity and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, adolescents, and adults. This review addresses the prevalence of the comorbidity and discusses some of the mechanisms that could account for their relationship. It is suggested that the inattentive and impulsive behaviors that characterize ADHD could contribute to overeating in our current food environment, with its emphasis on fast food consumption and its many food temptations. It is also proposed-based on the compelling evidence that foods high in fat, sugar, and salt are as addictive as some drugs of abuse-that excessive food consumption could be a form of self-medication. This view conforms with the well-established evidence that drug use and abuse are substantially higher among those with ADHD than among the general population.

Development and validation of the French Self‐Regulatory Eating Attitude in Sports Scale

In this study, the French Self-Regulatory Eating Attitude in Sports Scale (SREASS) was developed and then validated. Five subscales measure the control of eating attitude in contexts of: (a) food temptation, (b) negative affects, (c) social interaction, (d) lack of compensatory strategy, and (e) lack of anticipation of consequences on performance. The validation procedure required the participation of 527 student athletes and four successive studies to develop and present a preliminary scale and assess the clarity of the items (study 1), evaluate the factorial structure validity of the scale and test the invariance across gender (study 2), assess the time stability (study 3), and assess the external validity of the instrument (study 4). The present results provide preliminary evidence for the appropriateness of the SREASS for French student athletes. Nevertheless, further evaluation of this instrument is warranted to establish the robustness of the present findings.

Counteractive Construal in Consumer Goal Pursuit

The present research explores a self-control operation, namely, counteractive construal, that helps consumers resolve the conflicts between an important goal and a short-term temptation by altering the construal of the temptation. We propose that when experiencing a self-control conflict, consumers intentionally construe temptation as more damaging to the attainment of a long-term goal and use these distorted construals to help resolve the conflict in favor of the goals. Four studies in two self-regulatory domains (a dieting goal and an academic goal) provided converging evidence for the counteractive construal hypothesis. We found that people who were experiencing self-control conflict expected tempting food items to contain more calories or expected parties to take more time away from studying and were consequently less interested in consuming these temptations.

Eat it or beat it. The differential effects of food temptations on overweight and normal-weight restrained eaters

Dieting is difficult to maintain in an environment where cues of attractive, high-calorie food abound. Overweight and restrained eating have been associated with failures of self-regulation in response to such food cues. A subgroup of successful restrained eaters, however, have been found to activate their dieting goal in response to tempting food cues, which helps them to pursue their dieting goal in such situations. The present research extended this finding by examining the effect of tempting food cues on wanting to eat high-calorie snacks in normal-weight and overweight restrained eaters. In an Internet experiment, normal-weight and overweight participants (N=284) were unobtrusively primed with tempting food or neutral food objects. Next, wanting for high-calorie snacks was assessed with a forced-choice measure presenting pictures of high-calorie snacks and low-calorie alternatives. As predicted, exposure to attractive food cues decreased wanting for high-calorie food in normal-weight restrained eaters, but increased wanting in overweight restrained eaters. These results suggest that, in women who are successful in maintaining their weight, food temptations may trigger processes of successful self-regulation, whereas overweight restrained eaters may seem to forget about their diet goal when they are confronted with attractive food, thereby risking the chance to overeat.

The effect of food and weight‐related cues on physiological stress measures in premenopausal women differing in their levels of cognitive dietary restraint

Cognitive dietary restraint (CDR) reflects a perception of constantly monitoring or attempting to limit food intake to control weight. Higher cortisol levels have been observed in women with high vs low CDR. This study assessed whether food and weight‐related cues differentially activate the physiological stress response in 70 healthy women aged 19–35 with low (0–5; n=35) or high (13–21; n=35) scores on the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire Restraint subscale. Participants completed questionnaires on eating attitudes, stress, anxiety, depression and physical activity (PA) in the presence of food temptations. Concurrently, blood pressure, heart rate and salivary cortisol measures were obtained every 15 min for 90 min. Results showed significant between‐group differences in eating attitudes while anthropometric, general perceived stress, anxiety, depression and PA variables were similar. Although women with high CDR perceived the protocol as more stressful, physiological measures did not differ by CDR level. Participants also provided 4 saliva samples collected within 1 hr of awakening to assess the awakening cortisol response (ACR); no between‐group differences were observed. In conclusion, women with high and low CDR had similar physiological stress responses after cue exposure; however, this may have been the result of a weak stressor. Supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research 79563.

Exposure Makes the Heart Grow Less Fond!

Prior research has provided conflicting evidence on the question of whether exposure to food temptations directs attention towards or away from food cues. In this study, the effects of exposure to food temptations on attention processing were investigated using an exogenous cueing paradigm. The results show that exposure to food temptations led participants to direct their attention away from food cues. This effect was found after exposure to pictures of food as well as real food temptations. These findings suggest that food temptations activate a tendency to avoid food stimuli, regardless of the restraint and disinhibition levels of the participants.

Rye, Oats, and Weight Management

iets high in dietary fiber and whole grain foods are associated with re-duced risk of chronic disease. One of the main risk factors of many diseases is obe-sity, the prevalence of which is increasing at a high speed throughout the world. While the clear reason for weight gain and the increase of adipose tissue mass is an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, the current sedentary life-style and the daily tempting food offerings are both significant contributors. This has led to a large-scale research interest in the role of food properties on satiation, i.e., the feeling of fullness after a meal, and also in other regulatory mechanisms sug-gested to be involved in the control of food intake.

How chocolate keeps you slim. The effect of food temptations on weight watching goal importance, intentions, and eating behavior

In the Western rich food environment, people are constantly confronted with palatable but unhealthy food products. For those who would like to watch their weight, the appeal of immediate satisfaction is in conflict with their long-term weight watching goal, constituting a classic self-control dilemma. The current studies were designed to test the effect of food temptations on self-regulation mechanisms. Hypotheses were based on counteractive control theory stating that temptations trigger goal-directed behavior, thereby forming an adaptive self-regulation mechanism. Two experimental studies showed that exposure to food temptations, compared to a control condition, yielded enhanced goal importance (Study 1), goal intentions, and goal-directed behavior (i.e., healthy eating; Study 2). It is concluded that confrontation with temptations is not always undermining self-control and may even be beneficial for long-term goal pursuit.

Resisting tempting foods and smoking behavior: Implications from a self-control theory perspective.

Individuals may desire to diet or restrain from eating certain foods while attempting to quit smoking out of concern for weight gain. However, previous research and clinical tobacco treatment guidelines suggest that concurrent dieting may undermine attempts to quit smoking. The current study applied the self-control strength model, which posits that self-regulation relies on a limited strength that is consumed with use, to test whether resisting tempting sweets would lead to a greater likelihood of subsequent smoking. Participants were 101 cigarette smokers randomly assigned to resist eating either from a tempting plate of sweets or from a plate of less tempting vegetables. All participants were then given a 10-min recess. Whether participants smoked during the break, measured with a breath carbon monoxide sample, served as the primary dependent variable. As predicted, participants who resisted sweets were more likely to smoke during the break (53.2%) than those who resisted vegetables (34.0%), chi2(1, N = 101) = 3.65 p < .05. The findings support the tenets of the self-control strength model and suggest the mechanism by which dietary restraint may harm efforts at quitting smoking.

Tempt Me Just a Little Bit More: The Effect of Prior Food Temptation Actionability on Goal Activation and Consumption

People are often exposed to actionable food temptations (i.e., an immediate opportunity to consume, like when friends offer cookies) and nonactionable food temptations (i.e., no immediate consumption opportunity, like ads for chocolate). The results of three experiments suggest that prior exposure to nonactionable food temptations does not prevent the activation of an eating goal, given a subsequent consumption opportunity, while prior exposure to actionable food temptations prevents such activation. As a consequence, prior exposure to actionable food temptations enhances self-control on a current consumption occasion, while prior exposure to nonactionable food temptations reduces it.

High-restrained eaters only overeat when they are also impulsive

Recent work shows that the inability to inhibit basic motor responses (like pressing a button) is related to overeating, weight gain and overweight. In the present study it was tested whether this inability to inhibit motor responses – or impulsivity – can differentiate between successful and unsuccessful restrained eaters. A typical preload and food exposure paradigm was used and it was hypothesized that only the high-restrained eaters that are simultaneously inefficient inhibitors of prepotent motor responses would overeat when confronted with tempting foods. In line with the hypothesis, the data show that overeating follows from an interaction between restraint and impulsivity; high-restrained eaters only overate when they were also impulsive. It is concluded that being restrained per se is not a determinant of overeating. Being a restrained eater only bears the risk of overeating in case of coexisting impulsivity.

Effects of Temptation and Weight on Hedonics and Motivation to Eat in Women

The aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which food temptation influences liking, the hedonics of food, and wanting, the motivation to eat, and whether this effect differed between normal-weight and overweight women. Ninety-seven normal-weight and overweight women participated in a randomized experiment, which used a two-by-two design with food temptation and body weight as independent variables. ANOVAs tested the effect of these factors on wanting and liking. The most important finding of this study was that food temptation had a significant effect on wanting, but not on liking. Wanting was mainly influenced by temptation; however, this effect was moderated by weight. Interestingly, temptation caused a decrease in wanting, but only in normal-weight women. This effect of temptation could not be explained by a change in affect after manipulation or a difference in hunger before the start of the experiment. A possible explanation for the finding that normal-weight women showed a decline in wanting after the confrontation with highly palatable food may be that normal-weight women are protected by a higher sensory-specific satiety. Moreover, it is possible that in these women goals regarding, for example, weight maintenance are more easily evoked, which may remind them of the positive consequences of not yielding into temptation.

A Scenario-Based Dieting Self-Efficacy Scale

The article discusses a scenario-based dieting self-efficacy scale, the DIET-SE, developed from dieter's inventory of eating temptations (DIET). The DIET-SE consists of items that describe scenarios of eating temptations for a range of dieting situations, including high-caloric food temptations. Four studies assessed the psychometric properties of the 11-item DIET-SE. Exploratory factor analysis (N = 392) and confirmatory factors analysis (N = 124) revealed three internally consistent and reliable factors representing challenges to adhere to a diet (high-caloric food temptations [HCF], social and internal factors [SIF], negative emotional events [NEE]). Convergent validity is established with other measures of dieting self-efficacy, as well as measures of eating disinhibition, susceptibility to hunger, and weight loss competency. Criterion-related validity is provided through the assessment of goal adherence, and predictive validity is established for dieters' actual food intake (N = 68). The DIET-SE represents a short, reliable, and valid scenario-based measure of dieting self-efficacy.

Food temptations spontaneously elicit compensatory beliefs in dieters

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Through various self-regulatory strategies, individuals attempt to strike a balance between the satisfaction of immediate desires and fulfillment of long term goals. One such strategy is described by the compensatory beliefs model, which suggests that individuals rationalize their surrender to an immediate desire or temptation. This model is indirectly supported by earlier studies where compensatory beliefs were induced by the experimental context. The current pilot study examines whether compensatory beliefs can be self-initiated i.e. are spontaneously generated as a response to temptation. We recruited ten female McGill students currently on a weight loss diet and assigned them randomly to a temptation and a control group. We presented all participants with a choice between two identical cookies, differently described for the temptation and control groups: for the temptation condition one cookie was labeled as high in fat and sugar and the other as low in fat and sugar while for the control condition both cookies were labeled as low in fat and sugar. Participants listed compensatory thoughts in both a closed and an open response format. Our pilot data show that dieters indeed spontaneously generate compensatory beliefs in response to temptation. Compensatory beliefs should be considered a factor in unsuccessful self-regulation and more specifically in failed dieting attempts.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;