Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Decisions about type of food selected and amount of food eaten are influenced by numerous factors. The aim of this series of studies was to examine under which conditions impression-management techniques, specifically food selection or amount of food eaten, would be implemented after experiencing ego threats. A secondary goal was to determine whether female restrained eaters (dieters) and unrestrained eaters (non-dieters) utilized different impression-management techniques. A series of three experimental studies and two surveys were conducted in order to examine these aims. Experiment 1 found that female dieters, after experiencing an ego threat, selected a healthy snack more often than an unhealthy snack when under pressure to choose an unhealthy snack. The second experiment found that when participants were not under pressure to select a specific snack (healthy or unhealthy), both dieters and non-dieters chose a healthy snack more often after experiencing an intelligence threat. In Experiment 3 most participants chose a healthy snack except for the threatened dieters who chose the unhealthy snack more often in the private condition (ostensibly without the experimenter’s knowledge). The surveys supported the finding that men and women make judgments about others on the basis of type of food they select versus amount consumed. Overall, the present research suggests that if people have the choice of using type versus amount of food as an impression-management strategy, they will choose type. As well, dieters at times use different impression-management techniques than non-dieters do.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Lisa Jodi Lipschitz
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2580847720