Restrained eating among vegetarians: does a vegetarian eating style mask concerns about weight?

The present study explored the relationships among dietary style (ranging from meat eating to veganism), cognitive restraint and feminist values. Two-hundred and twenty-seven participants with varying dietary styles completed the restraint subscale of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) and Attitudes Towards Feminism Scale (ATFS). Results indicated that among males, those who are high in cognitive restraint are more likely to exhibit a vegetarian dietary style than those low in cognitive restraint. Among women who are high in feminist values, those with high cognitive restraint are more likely to exhibit a vegetarian dietary style than those with low cognitive restraint, whereas for women low in feminist values those with high and low cognitive restraint are equally likely to exhibit vegetarian and non-vegetarian dietary styles. It is suggested that for some individuals, adoption of a vegetarian dietary style is an attempt to mask their dieting behaviour from others.