The effects of modeling dietary restraint on food consumption: do restrained models promote restrained eating?

Sixty-nine female undergraduates completed the restraint scale, a dieting checklist, and the Eating Attribution Style Questionnaire (EASQ). The participants were exposed either to no model, a peer model who behaviorally demonstrated dietary restraint, or a peer model who behaviorally and verbally demonstrated dietary restraint. The participants had an opportunity to consume food as part of a taste test. The findings revealed that attribution style, but not restraint or current dieting status, moderated the effects of exposure to the peer models. Females who had an internal attribution style for indulgent food consumption decreased their consumption of food as a function of the dietary restraint of the models, whereas females who had an external attribution style for indulgent food consumption increased their consumption of food as a function of the dietary restraint of the models. The latter disinhibitory effect was attributed to negative social comparison and learned helplessness. The results supported the conclusion that the effectiveness of modeling dietary restraint is dependent on the attribution style of the observers.