Social regulation of restrictive eating behavior: A within-subject study

Abstract

Food restriction is a common practice among young people, aimed at modifying body weight through strict dieting, food avoidance, and/or prolonged fasting. This behavior is influenced by social norms of dietary appropriateness, which indicate when it is suitable to eat less (inhibitory norm) or more (augmentative norm), depending on the eating behavior of others. Experimental evidence suggests that restrained eaters are particularly sensitive to these norms; however, methodological limitations have been identified that constrain the generalizability of findings. This study examined the effect of both dietary norms on the eating patterns of male and female university students using a mixed within-subject ABCA′ design, with four experimental groups and both male and female confederate models. Within-subject comparisons allowed the analysis of the effect of each norm, while between-group comparisons assessed differences by experimental condition. The results confirmed the influence of both norms on the amount of food intake, but not on the selection of food type. Differences were observed in the effect of the model depending on the sex of the participant. This study provides relevant evidence on the impact of social modeling on eating patterns, a topic still emerging within behavioral science.