Dieting 145assess both undereating and overeating (i.e., the Restraint Scale), others focus
mainly on food restriction (i.e., DEBQ and Three Factor Eating Question-
naire). From these analyses, some researchers have concluded that restrained
eating is seen to lead to overeating only when it has been measured using
items such as “Do you eat sensibly with others and splurge alone?” selecting
those dieters with a tendency to overeat who then do so in either a labo-
ratory or naturalistic setting (e.g., Charnock, 1989; Westenhoefer, 1991;
van Strien, 1999, 2007).
The complex nature of dietingDieting seems to be a more complex behavior than sometimes thought.
As noted, van Strien (1999) has argued that there are two types of dieters,
namely, successful and unsuccessful dieters. Westenhoefer, Stunkard, and
Pudel (1999) have argued that dieters should be categorized as having either
flexible or rigid control. Further, Westenhoefer (1991) also argued that dieters
should be considered as those with either high or low disinhibition. These
analyses focus on between-subject differences and suggest that dieters can
be divided into different groups: those that either do or do not succeed.
In contrast, other researchers have focused on within-subject differences
and have suggested that rather than dichotomizing the individuals (success-
ful vs. unsuccessful dieters), it is the behavior that should be dichotomized
into successful versus unsuccessful dieting. For example, Ogden (1993) argued
that restrained eating is best conceptualized as an attempt which is only
rarely realized, with dieters showing both under- and overeating. Similarly,
Heatherton et al. (1988) argued that “the restrained eater who is exclusively
restrained... is not representative of restrained eaters in general, whereas
the restrained eater who occasionally splurges is” (p. 20). From this per-
spective, “to diet” is probably best understood as “attempting to lose weight
but only sometimes doing so” and “an attempt to eat less which often results
in eating more.”
In summary, restraint theory argues that dieting can lead to overeating
and impacts upon cognitions, mood, and weight. Much research has sup-
ported this perspective, although there are several problems this analysis.
In particular, some individuals do successfully restrict their food intake,
and research has illustrated this using both experimental and naturalistic
methodologies. These contradictions in the literature have resulted in an
analysis of what measures of restrained eating are actually assessing; it would
seem that restrained eating can be considered to consist of both under- and