Goal priming and eating behavior: enhancing self-regulation by environmental cues.
OBJECTIVE
Several lines of research have shown that the confrontation with attractive food can trigger overeating, especially in restrained eaters. This effect may be driven by a hedonic orientation toward food which temporarily overrules the goal of dieting in the regulation of behavior. The present study was designed to provide an experimental demonstration of this effect in a naturalistic setting, and to show that reactivating the goal of dieting by a subtle prime in the environment can help restrained eaters to regulate their eating behavior in tempting situations.


METHODS
In a local store where the smell of grilled chicken was present, we observed the number of free meat snacks customers sampled from a tray after they had been primed with the dieting goal or not.


METHODS
Number of snacks consumed.


RESULTS
Consistent with hypotheses, restrained eaters ate more than unrestrained eaters in the control condition. However, they reduced their eating behavior when primed with dieting, whereas this manipulation did not affect unrestrained eaters.


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that unobtrusively priming the goal of dieting can enhance self-regulation in tempting eating situations. These results are discussed in the context of recent advances in our understanding of nonconscious behavior regulation and their applications to health behavior.
Papies
Esther K
EK
Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. e.k.papies@uu.nl
Hamstra
Petra
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003463:Cues; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000523:psychology; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires