Psychological explanation for obesity

• What does the psychological explanation for obesity suggest?

  it is due to restraint theory, disinhibitation and the boundary model
• What is the restraint theory in terms of the psychological explanation for obesity?

  Hermans and polivy

  suggest that overweight individuals set unrealistic self imposing targets in attempt to prevent obesity

  However, this drives eating by a regime and not hunger

  causing overeating
• What is disinhibitation in terms of the psychological explanation for obesity?

  Suggest overweight people are susceptible to environmental cues related to food

  individuals who have low emotional control - cues trigger anxiety

  Find comfort through eating
• what is the "what the hell" effect?

  comfort found through food - soothe anxiety

  leads to people breaking their targets and overeating
• What is the boundary model in terms of psychological explanation to obesity?

  physiological balance between hunger and satiety
• what does the boundary model explain obesity?

  restrictive eater have a lower hunger boundary (feel hunger more often) and a higher satiety boundary (feel less sensitive to being full)
• What is a strength for the psychological explanation of obesity?

  Wardle and Beales

  random allocation for 27 obese women to either group a dieting group who restrict food, exercise group who dont or control who do neither

  Found- women who were put into dieting group ate more when offered food by the psychologist
• What is a weakness for the psychological explanation of obesity?

  Hays

  questionaire of 638 healthy women - restricted eating was not linked to overeating

  Savage

  found 6 year longitudinal study of 163 women

  restrained eating linked to decrease in weight