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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, DESIGN, MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES, RESULTS. Meshes: Adolescent, Adult, Eating, Ego, Energy Intake, Female, Food Preferences, Humans, Middle Aged, Motivation, Self Concept, Self-Control, Young Adult.
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Does self-affirmation following ego depletion moderate restrained eaters' explicit preferences for, and implicit associations with, high-calorie foods? Context: The difficulty for chronic dieters (i.e. restrained eaters) in regulating their food intake is a conflict between two apparently incompatible goals: eating enjoyment and weight control. The latter goal consistently relies on the deployment of cognitive resources, and very often on a significant amount of self-control. This study investigated whether self-affirmation might counteract the effect of ego depletion on restrained eaters' motivation to consume high-calorie foods. Participants (N = 183) were assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 × 2 (Ego depletion × Self-Affirmation) experimental design and were subsequently exposed to images of high- and low-calorie foods. Participants completed tasks assessing their implicit and explicit preferences for high vs. low-calorie foods, along with a measure of the perceived self-control required to resist foods. Results indicated that, following ego depletion, self-affirmation facilitated restrained eaters' perceptions of self-control and led to lower explicit preferences for high-calorie foods. This pattern was not apparent for implicit preferences.
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Self-affirmation interventions may be capable of restoring self-control resources among restrained eaters. Pointers for future research and practical applications are discussed.