Restraint and Perception of Body Weight Among British Adults.

This article examines the effects of restraint and overestimation of body weight by a sample of 535 adults in Great Britain. Social situations can precipitate disinhibition, or an abstinence violation effect. For example, eating in company or being exposed to large restaurant portions can induce a person to break dietary boundaries and lead to subsequent overeating. However, it has also been suggested that restrained eaters behave like unrestrained eaters when observers are present; thus, overeating may be more likely to take place in private contexts such as the home. Restraint has been associated with maladaptive cognitions, such as the overestimation of body size, which occurs in individuals who have eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, but is also reported to be common in females in general, and in female dieters in particular. The relationship between weight perception and dieting in men has received little research attention.