gain, of illness), pleasure (over a success which deserves a treat) and guilt (about
overeating) might contribute towards eating behaviour.
Some cognitive models incorporate the views of others in the form of the construct
‘subjective norm’. This does not adequately address the central role that others play
in a behaviour as social as eating.
At times the cognitive models appear tautological in that the independent variables
do not seem conceptually separate from the dependent variables they are being used
to predict. For example is the cognition ‘I am confident I can eat fruit and vegetables’
really distinct from the cognition ‘I intend to eat fruit and vegetables’?
Although the cognitive models have been applied extensively to behaviour their abil-
ity to predict actual behaviour remains poor, leaving a large amount of variance to be
explained by undefined factors.
In sum, from a social cognitive perspective eating behaviour can be understood and
predicted by measuring an individual’s cognitions about food. The research in this area
points to a consistently important role for attitudes towards a food (e.g. ‘I think eating a
healthy meal is enjoyable’) and a role for an individual’s beliefs about behavioural control
(e.g. ‘how confident are you that you could eat a healthy diet’). There is also some
evidence that ambivalence may moderate the association between attitude and intention.
However, there is no evidence for either social norms or other hypothesized variables.
Such an approach ignores the role of a range of other cognitions, particularly those
relating to the meaning of food and the meaning of size and at times the associations
between variables is weak leaving much of the variance in eating behaviour unexplained.A WEIGHT CONCERN MODEL OF EATING BEHAVIOUR
The meaning of food and weight
So far this chapter has explored developmental and cognitive models of eating behaviour.
Developmental models emphasize the role of learning and association and cognitive
models emphasize the role of attitudes and beliefs. However, food is associated with many
meanings such as a treat, a celebration, the forbidden fruit, a family get together, being a
good mother and being a good child (Ogden 2003). Furthermore, once eaten food can
change the body’s weight and shape, which is also associated with meanings such as
attractiveness, control and success (Ogden 2003). As a result of these meanings many
women, in particular, show weight concern in the form of body dissatisfaction, which
often results in dieting. Weight concern and its impact on eating behaviour will now be
described.What is body dissatisfaction?
Body dissatisfaction comes in many forms. Some research has conceptualized body dis-
satisfaction in terms of a distorted body size estimation and a perception that the body is146 HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY