Controlled motivation and the persistence of weight-loss dieting

✍ Scribed by Kathryn G. Strong; Gail F Huon

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 87 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1072-4133
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0968(199905)7:2<136::aid-erv263>3.0.co;2-7

✦ Synopsis

The principal aim of the present paper was to determine the extent to which controlled motivation to diet can account for persistence with weight-loss dieting. The relationship between the duration of dieting and the perceived importance of thinness for self-esteem was therefore investigated. Eight hundred and seventy adolescent females completed a questionnaire on two occasions (separated by a period of 5 months) assessing the nature of their motivation to diet, the perceived pressure to diet and support for autonomous behaviour from the social context, their tendency to act in a controlled manner, and their subjective well-being, as well as aspects of their dieting behaviour. The results of path analyses and between-group comparisons indicated that controlled motivation was important in accounting for the persistence of weight-loss dieting across the 5-month period. Differences in the extent to which the motivation to diet was controlled also had implications for the nature and the intensity of the dieting behaviour as well as subjective well-being. The ®ndings from this study inform future research into the persistence of weight-loss dieting. They also suggest speci®c strategies for the prevention of disordered eating.