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Conscientiousness in weight loss maintainers and regainers.
Joshua M Gold1, Lucas J Carr1, J Graham Thomas2
1Department of Health and Human Physiology.
Summary
Successful weight loss maintainers exhibit higher conscientiousness, particularly in order, virtue, responsibility, and industriousness, compared to those who regain weight. This suggests conscientiousness may play a key role in long-term weight management.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Science
- Psychology
- Health Psychology
Background:
- The role of personality in weight loss maintenance (WLM) is not well understood.
- Conscientiousness, a personality trait, is linked to general health behaviors but its specific impact on WLM requires investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare conscientiousness levels and control over healthy lifestyle behaviors between individuals who successfully maintain weight loss and those who regain it.
- To evaluate the importance of conscientiousness for weight loss maintenance.
Main Methods:
- 869 National Weight Control Registry participants (maintainers) and 484 MTurk participants (regainers) completed online surveys.
- Self-report measures included the Cherynshenko Conscientiousness Scale and the Healthy Lifestyle & Personal Control Questionnaire.
- Demographics and body mass index were also collected.
Main Results:
- Maintainers showed higher overall conscientiousness and specific facets (order, virtue, responsibility, industriousness) than regainers.
- Regainers scored higher on traditionalism, while self-control did not differ significantly.
- Maintainers reported greater control over food intake, meal/sleep timing, and exercise adherence.
Conclusions:
- Successful weight loss maintainers demonstrate slightly to moderately higher conscientiousness than regainers.
- The findings suggest that conscientiousness is a factor in successful weight loss maintenance.
- Further research should explore incorporating conscientiousness into weight loss maintenance interventions.
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