PMID: 11920997Mar 29, 2002Paper

Women's perceptions of the outcome of weight loss diets: a signal detection approach

The International Journal of Eating Disorders
Dorothy D HeffernanDonna McWilliam

Abstract

Evolutionary psychology suggests that body shape is as important as body size and that, in women, certain body shapes are considered more attractive, specifically a waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) of about 0.70. Research has shown that the WHR does not change as a result of weight loss diets although it may be that women who diet do not appreciate this. We hypothesized that women would report diet outcomes that included shape change. This was investigated using a signal detection paradigm. Two groups of female participants (high and low WHRs) were presented with images with high and low WHRs and were asked to choose images they could resemble through dieting. Both groups of women selected low WHR images as the outcome of their diets, supporting theories of evolutionary psychology. We conclude that women in the high WHR group may find adherence to diets problematic because the desired change in shape does not occur.

References

Sep 1, 1992·Behaviour Research and Therapy·M J Cooper, C G Fairburn
Sep 1, 1994·The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine·E O Guillen, S I Barr
Aug 1, 1993·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·D Singh
Nov 5, 1997·International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity·W C MillerE J Hamilton
Jan 29, 1999·Behaviour Research and Therapy·C G FairburnZ Cooper
Mar 17, 1999·International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity·A MolariusK Kuulasmaa

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Citations

May 12, 2019·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Cristina BouzasJosep A Tur

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