title: Mere exposure to palatable food cues reduces restrained eaters' physical effort to obtain healthy food.
abstract: We examined whether exposure to cues of attractive food reduces effortful behavior toward healthy foods for restrained eaters. After manipulating food pre-exposure, we recorded handgrip force while presenting participants with pictures of healthy food objects. Because participants were led to expect that they could obtain each object (not specified beforehand) by squeezing the handgrip as forcefully as possible while the object was displayed on the screen, the recorded handgrip force constitutes a measure of spontaneous effortful behavior. Results show that restrained eaters, but not unrestrained eaters, displayed less forceful action toward healthy food objects (i.e., lower exertion of force) when pre-exposed to tempting food cues. No effects were found on palatability perceptions of the healthy foods. The results provide further insight into why restrained eaters have difficulties in maintaining a low-calorie diet in food-rich environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands. g.m.vankoningsbruggen@uu.nl
authors.forename: Guido M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: van Koningsbruggen
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Stroebe
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aarts
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D031204:Caloric Restriction; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology*; D004038:Diet, Reducing; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D014796:Visual Perception