title: Externally oriented thinking of obese men and women.
abstract: This study examined the association of scores on alexithymia and obesity. The obese group (n = 47) reported significantly higher total scores on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale than the nonobese group (n = 190). Of the four factors of alexithymia, although significant differences were not found in the statistical analysis with a Bonferroni correction, scores on externally-oriented thinking (so-called "pensée operatoire") were higher for the obese group than the nonobese group. The results suggest that persons with simple obesity are prone to alexithymia, in particular externally-oriented thinking.
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, Japan. fukunisi@prit.go.jp
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fukunishi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaji
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics