The ironic effects of dietary restraint in situations that undermine self-regulation

2021 ◽  
pp. 101579
Author(s):  
Charlotte J. Hagerman ◽  
Michelle L. Stock ◽  
Ellen W. Yeung ◽  
Susan Persky ◽  
Janine B. Beekman
2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 413-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Imhoff ◽  
Alexander F. Schmidt ◽  
Friederike Gerstenberg

Trait self–control (TSC) has been conceptualized as a general and abstract ability to exert self–regulation across multiple domains that has mostly beneficial effects. However, its relationship to situational depletion of self–regulatory resources has received little attention. We systematically explore the interplay of trait and situational self–control in two studies (total N = 264). In contrast with a positive view of TSC, the results show greater ego depletion effects for high (vs. low) self–control abilities across such diverse domains as candy consumption (Study 1), risk–taking behaviour (Study 2) and achievement motivation (Study 2). It is proposed that these ironic effects are attributable to high–TSC individuals’ less frequent active inhibition of impulses in everyday life and their resulting lack of experience in resisting acute temptations. A third study (N> = 358) corroborated this general reasoning by showing that TSC is indeed associated with less frequent impulse inhibition in daily routines. Our data point to a downside of dispositional self–control in ego depletion paradigms. Other explanations and potential future avenues for resolving inconsistent findings across the literature are discussed. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology


2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 665-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Johnson ◽  
M Pratt ◽  
J Wardle

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Shriver ◽  
Jessica Dollar ◽  
Meg Lawless ◽  
Susan Calkins ◽  
Susan Keane ◽  
...  

The prevalence of obesity among U.S. youth continues to increase, with many adolescents engaging in unhealthy eating behaviors. Increasingly, research points to the role of self-regulation in obesity development, yet existing work has largely focused on young children and/or clinical adult populations. This multi-method longitudinal study (N = 153) utilized a path analysis to delineate links between emotion regulation (age 15), emotional eating and dietary restraint (age 16), and adiposity (% body fat) using a BodPod for body composition assessment (age 19). Emotion regulation was negatively associated with emotional eating (β = −0.30, p < 0.001) and positively associated with dietary restraint (β = 0.15, p < 0.05) at age 16, but was not associated with age 19 adiposity (β = −0.01, p = ns). Emotional eating was positively associated with adiposity (β = 0.24, p < 0.01). Indirect effects suggested that emotional eating, but not dietary restraint, at age 16 serves as a mechanism that helps explain the associations between emotion regulation and adiposity four years later. Results from this study suggest that both emotion regulation and emotional eating represent promising targets for that should be included in future interventions aimed at preventing adolescent obesity.


Author(s):  
Sarah Bates ◽  
Paul Norman ◽  
Penny Breeze ◽  
Alan Brennan ◽  
Amy L Ahern

Abstract Background A greater understanding of the mechanisms of action of weight-management interventions is needed to inform the design of effective interventions. Purpose To investigate whether dietary restraint, habit strength, or diet self-regulation mediated the impact of a behavioral weight-management intervention on weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Methods Latent growth curve analysis (LGCA) was conducted on trial data in which adults (N = 1,267) with a body mass index (BMI) ≥28 kg/m2 were randomized to either a brief intervention (booklet on losing weight), a 12 week weight-management program or the same program for 52 weeks. LGCA estimated the trajectory of the variables over four time points (baseline and 3, 12 and 24 months) to assess whether potential mechanisms of action mediated the impact of the weight-management program on BMI. Results Participants randomized to the 12 and 52 week programs had a significantly greater decrease in BMI than the brief intervention. This direct effect became nonsignificant when dietary restraint, habit strength, and autonomous diet self-regulation were controlled for. The total indirect effect was significant for both the 12 (estimate = −1.33, standard error [SE] = 0.41, p = .001) and 52 week (estimate = −2.13, SE = 0.52, p &lt; .001) program. Only the individual indirect effect for dietary restraint was significant for the 12 week intervention, whereas all three indirect effects were significant for the 52 week intervention. Conclusions Behavior change techniques that target dietary restraint, habit strength, and autonomous diet self-regulation should be considered when designing weight loss and weight loss maintenance interventions. Longer interventions may need to target both deliberative and automatic control processes to support successful weight management.


2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary A. Troia

Abstract This article first provides an overview of components of self-regulation in writing and specific examples of each component are given. The remainder of the article addresses common reasons why struggling learners experience trouble with revising, followed by evidence-based practices to help students revise their papers more effectively.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Stoakley ◽  
Karen J. Mathewson ◽  
Louis A. Schmidt ◽  
Kimberly A. Cote

Abstract. Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is related to individual differences in waking affective style and self-regulation. However, little is known about the stability of RSA between sleep/wake stages or the relations between RSA during sleep and waking affective style. We examined resting RSA in 25 healthy undergraduates during the waking state and one night of sleep. Stability of cardiac variables across sleep/wake states was highly reliable within participants. As predicted, greater approach behavior and lower impulsivity were associated with higher RSA; these relations were evident in early night Non-REM (NREM) sleep, particularly in slow wave sleep (SWS). The current research extends previous findings by establishing stability of RSA within individuals between wake and sleep states, and by identifying SWS as an optimal period of measurement for relations between waking affective style and RSA.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asmir Gračanin ◽  
Igor Kardum ◽  
Jasna Hudek-Knežević

Abstract. The neurovisceral integration model proposes that different forms of self-regulation, including the emotional suppression, are characterized by the activation of neural network whose workings are also reflected in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). However, most of the previous studies failed to observe theoretically expected increases in RSA during emotional suppression. Even when such effects were observed, it was not clear whether they resulted from specific task demands, a decrease in muscle activity, or they were the consequence of more specific self-control processes. We investigated the relation between habitual or trait-like suppression, spontaneous, and instructed suppression with changes in RSA during negative emotion experience. A modest positive correlation between spontaneous situational and habitual suppression was observed across two experimental tasks. Furthermore, the results showed greater RSA increase among participants who experienced higher negative affect (NA) increase and reported higher spontaneous suppression than among those with higher NA increase and lower spontaneous suppression. Importantly, this effect was independent from the habitual suppression and observable facial expressions. The results of the additional task based on experimental manipulation, rather than spontaneous use of situational suppression, indicated a similar relation between suppression and RSA. Our results consistently demonstrate that emotional suppression, especially its self-regulation component, is followed by the increase in parasympathetic activity.


Author(s):  
Bjarne Schmalbach ◽  
Markus Zenger ◽  
Michalis P. Michaelides ◽  
Karin Schermelleh-Engel ◽  
Andreas Hinz ◽  
...  

Abstract. The common factor model – by far the most widely used model for factor analysis – assumes equal item intercepts across respondents. Due to idiosyncratic ways of understanding and answering items of a questionnaire, this assumption is often violated, leading to an underestimation of model fit. Maydeu-Olivares and Coffman (2006) suggested the introduction of a random intercept into the model to address this concern. The present study applies this method to six established instruments (measuring depression, procrastination, optimism, self-esteem, core self-evaluations, and self-regulation) with ambiguous factor structures, using data from representative general population samples. In testing and comparing three alternative factor models (one-factor model, two-factor model, and one-factor model with a random intercept) and analyzing differential correlational patterns with an external criterion, we empirically demonstrate the random intercept model’s merit, and clarify the factor structure for the above-mentioned questionnaires. In sum, we recommend the random intercept model for cases in which acquiescence is suspected to affect response behavior.


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