The discrepancy between implicit and explicit attitudes in predicting disinhibited eating (original) (raw)
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Appetite, 2012
Various studies have demonstrated an association between implicit measures of attitudes and dietaryrelated behaviours. However, no study has tested whether implicit measures of attitudes predict dietary behaviour after controlling for explicit measures of palatability. In a prospective design, two studies assessed the validity of measures of implicit attitude (Implicit Association Test, IAT) and explicit measures of palatability and health-related attitudes on self-reported (Studies 1 and 2) and objective food (fruit vs. chocolate) choice (Study 2). Following regression analyses, in both studies, implicit measures of attitudes were correlated with food choice but failed to significantly predict food choice when controlling specifically for explicit measures of palatability. These consistent relationships emerged despite using different category labels within the IAT in the two studies. The current research suggests implicit measures of attitudes may not predict dietary behaviours after taking into account the palatability of food. This is important in order to establish determinants that explain unique variance in dietary behaviours and to inform dietary change interventions.
Implicit and explicit attitudes toward high-fat foods in obesity
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2002
This study examined implicit and explicit attitudes toward high-fat foods in obese (n ϭ 30) and normal-weight controls (n ϭ 31). The Implicit Association Test (, 1998) was used to measure the differential association of the 2 target categorieshigh-fat vs. low-fat food words-with an attribute dimension (positive vs. negative). Results suggest that obese people are characterized by a significantly stronger implicit negative attitude toward high-fat foods than are normal-weight controls. This implicit negative attitude is contradictory to their preferences and behavior: Several studies indicate that obese people prefer and consume high-fat foods. Apparently, obese people like the taste of high-fat foods but not the fat content itself, not only on the explicit but also on the implicit level.
Psychology & Health, 2014
A more negative implicit evaluation of unhealthy food stimuli and a more positive implicit evaluation of a weight-management goal have been shown to predict lower consumption of unhealthy food. However, the associations between these evaluations, temptation to indulge and consumption of unhealthy food remain unclear. The current study investigated whether temptation would mediate the relationship between implicit food and goal evaluations and consumption (resembling an antecedent-focused route to self-control of eating), or whether those evaluations would moderate the relationship between temptation and consumption (resembling a response-focused route). A sample of 156 women (17-25 years), who tried to manage their weight through healthy eating, completed two implicit association tasks assessing implicit food and goal evaluations, respectively. Intake of four energy-dense snack foods was measured in a task disguised as a taste test, and participants reported the strength of experienced temptation to indulge in the snacks offered. Negative implicit food evaluation was associated with lower snack intake, and temptation mediated this relationship. Implicit goal evaluation was unrelated to both temptation strength and snack consumption. The findings contribute to an understanding of how negative implicit unhealthy food evaluation relates to lower consumption, namely through the mediation of temptation to indulge in those foods.
Appetite, 2015
The current study used a modified implicit association test (IAT) to change implicit evaluations of unhealthy snack food and tested its effects on subsequent consumption. Furthermore, we investigated whether these effects were moderated by inhibitory self-control. A sample of 148 women (17-25 years) motivated to manage weight through healthy eating completed an IAT intervention, and pre- and post-intervention IATs assessing implicit evaluations of unhealthy food. The intervention IAT trained participants to pair unhealthy food stimuli with either positive or negative stimuli. A task disguised as a taste-test was used to assess consumption of unhealthy snack foods. Inhibitory self-control was measured using a self-report scale. As predicted, the implicit evaluation of unhealthy food became more negative from pre- to post-training among participants in the food negative pairing condition; however, there was no corresponding change in the food positive pairing condition. The effect of ...
Eating Behaviors, 2013
For many years, questionnaires have been considered the standard when examining emotional eating behavior. However, recently, some controversy has arisen about these questionnaires, and their usefulness in identifying emotional eaters has been questioned. The current study aimed to investigate the Single Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT) as a measure of emotional eating. Two ST-IATs (assessing food-positive and food-negative associations respectively) and the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) were compared in undergraduate students. A positive, negative or neutral mood was induced by means of a film clip, and milkshake consumption was measured during and after the mood induction. It was hypothesized that participants with strong emotion-food associations on the ST-IATs (i.e., IAT-emotional eaters) would consume more food in the emotion induction condition corresponding to that emotion, as compared to those with weak emotion-food associations as well as to those in the neutral condition. Participants who scored high on both the positive and negative ST-IATs ate more during a positive mood induction than during a negative mood induction. This effect did not extend to milkshake consumption after the mood induction procedure. In addition, IAT-positive emotional eaters consumed more food than IAT-non-emotional eaters. No effects of the DEBQ on milkshake consumption were found. It is concluded that the ST-IAT has potential as a measure of emotional eating.
Implicit preference of sweets over fruit as a predictor of their actual consumption
The purpose of this paper is to test if our eating behavior is determined not only by conscious evaluations of certain foods (explicit attitudes), but also by their automatic evaluations (implicit attitudes). Design/methodology/approach In two studies, the authors examined the predictive and incremental validity of these two types of attitudinal measures of eating behavior. Implicit attitudes were assessed with a standard implicit attitude test procedure (target categories were “sweets” and “fruit,” and attribute categories were “good” and “bad”); two explicit attitude measures were assessed: an explicit measure of preference for sweets over fruit and a semantic differential measure. The behavioral measure in Study 1 was the quantity of sweets consumed; in Study 2, it was a relative measure of sweets vs fruit consumption registered through a three-day diary. Findings The relatively low correlation between implicit and explicit attitude measures indicated that these measures at least partially tap into different processes. Implicit attitudes proved to be superior over explicit attitudes in predicting food consumption, especially for consumption registered via diary. This fact suggests that implicit attitudes are powerful drivers of long-term behavior. Practical implications The findings could be useful in tailoring interventions to promote healthier eating habits. Originality/value The research tested predictive power of implicit food-related attitudes. It compared the food consumption in laboratory and real-life settings. A new measure for daily food consumption was developed and it was calculated relative to recommended serving size.
Implicit and explicit attitudes to high- and low-calorie food in females with different BMI status
Eating Behaviors, 2008
The study compared implicit and explicit attitudes to three types of foods (high-calorie non-sweet HCNS, high-calorie sweet HCS and low-calorie LC) among females varying in BMI status. Eight three participants completed an affective priming task (implicit attitudes), followed by explicit rating of food images. The results of ANOVA showed a significant difference in implicit attitudes to different types of food, F(3,246) = 3.90, p < .01 and the difference among BMI groups (F(6, 213) = 2.15, p < .05). The implicit attitudes to HCS were positive in the healthy-weight and overweight groups but negative in obese; the reversed pattern was revealed in attitudes to HCNS. All groups showed negative implicit attitudes to LC foods. The ANOVA performed on explicit ratings revealed a significant effect of food type (F(3,213) = 22.54, p < 001) but no interaction between food type and BMI status. All participants rated HCNS significantly lower than HCS and LC foods. Our results indicate dissociation in implicit and explicit attitudes to foods among BMI groups, especially in attitudes to HCNS and HCS foods.