Abstract
This study investigated implicit self-control dispositions—implicit approach tendencies towards low-caloric food rather than towards high-caloric food—in dieters. Action tendencies were assessed and trained using the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT). Additionally, positive/negative affective associations [Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT)], approach/avoidance associations (BIAT), and attentional biases [Dot Probe Task (DPT)] were assessed before and after training. Before training, dieters showed a more negative affective association with high-caloric food than non-dieters (positive/negative BIAT), consistent with the presence of self-control dispositions. On the AAT, all participants, not just dieters, showed more approach of low-caloric food than of high-caloric food. Results of neither the approach/avoidance BIAT nor the DPT showed any indication of implicit self-control dispositions. This study also investigated whether implicit self-control dispositions interfered with AAT training effects. This did not seem to be the case, as action tendencies could be strengthened even further. Moreover, training effects generalized to the DPT.
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Notes
Analyses were performed with and without these exclusions. The results did not change. We decided to report the results leaving out the 10 suspect participants to further guarantee that dieters with a strong diet goal were compared with non-dieters without a goal to diet, in line with the suggestions of the study of Fishbach and Shah (2006).
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Conflict of Interest
Joyce Maas, Ger P. J. Keijsers, Mike Rinck, Jorg Tanis, and Eni S. Becker declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Informed Consent
All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
Animal Rights
No animal studies were carried out by the authors for this paper.
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Appendix: Diet Goal Questionnaire
Appendix: Diet Goal Questionnaire
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1.
How often do you think about dieting?
0 The entire day
0 Multiple times a day
0 Multiple times a week
0 Multiple times a month
0 Almost never
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2.
Imagine: there is an effective and safe method that helps you to easily lose weight. How much money would you be willing to spend on this method?
0 Less than 10 euros
0 10–50 euros
0 50–100 euros
0 100–500 euros
0 More than 500 euros
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3.
I want to lose weight.
1
2
3
4
5
Not at all
Very much
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4.
How much are you bothered by your weight?
1
2
3
4
5
Not at all
Very much
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5.
How often have you tried dieting?
1
2
3
4
5
Never
Many times
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6.
How successful is your diet this time? (0 = not applicable)
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Not at all | Very successful |
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Maas, J., Keijsers, G.P.J., Rinck, M. et al. Does a Dieting Goal Affect Automatic Cognitive Processes and Their Trainability?. Cogn Ther Res 39, 378–389 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-014-9658-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-014-9658-0