The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behavior

136 Dieting

the impact of thought suppression (e.g., Soetens et al., 2008; Van Gucht
et al., 2008). Results from these studies have been promising and have shown
a reduction in a number of measures, including chocolate craving, food
intake, and saliva secretion after cue exposure.
It is possible, therefore, that the decision to diet and to not eat under-
mines any attempts at weight loss. As soon as food is denied it becomes
forbidden and therefore desired, and therefore more of it is eaten. Exposure
to these forbidden foods may, however, be a useful strategy to reduce food
intake in the longer term.

Escape theory

Researchers have also used escape theory to explain overeating (Heatherton
and Baumeister, 1991; Heatherton, Herman, and Polivy, 1991; Heatherton
et al., 1993). This perspective has been applied to both the overeating
characteristic of dieters and the more extreme form of binge eating found
in bulimics, and describes overeating as a con-sequence of “a motivated
shift to low levels of self awareness” (Heatherton and Baumeister, 1991).
It is argued that individuals prone to overeating show “high standards
and demanding ideals” (p. 89) and that this results in low self-esteem, self-
dislike, and lowered mood. It is also argued that inhibitions exist at high
levels of awareness when the individual is aware of the meanings associated
with certain behaviors. In terms of the overeater, a state of high self-
awareness can become unpleasant, as it results in self-criticism and low mood.
However, such a state is accompanied by the existence of inhibitions. The
individual is therefore motivated to escape from self-awareness to avoid the
accompanying unpleasantness, but although such a shift in self-awareness
may provide relief from self-criticism it results in a reduction in inhibitions,
thereby causing overeating. Within this analysis, disinhibitory overeating
is indicative of a shift from high to low self-awareness and a subsequent
reduction in inhibitions.

Overeating as a relapse

Parallels exist between the under- and overeating of the restrained eater
and the behavior of the relapsing smoker or alcoholic. The traditional
biomedical perspective on addictive behaviors viewed addictions as being
irreversible and out of the individual’s control. It has been argued that this
perspective encourages the belief that the behavior is either “all or nothing,”