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Biomedical subjects

J Polivy

Publications and source records attributed to J Polivy.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Obesity, externality, and susceptibility to social influence: an integrated analysis.

A pilot study indicated that overweight subjects are more likely to order a particular dessert in a restaurant when the waitress provides an appetizing description of that dessert and encourages the diner to order it; subjects who were not overweight were much less affected by the waitress's behavior. This effect may be interpreted in terms of the greater "externality' of overweight persons (i.e., their greater reactivity to salient food cues); alternatively, it may be seen as evidence for greater compliance by deviant (overweight) individuals. The present study examined these alternatives by separating the perceptual-cues component of the waitress's behavior from the social-influence component in a replication of the pilot study. The results indicated that both the externality and compliance interpretations were tenable. The authors suggest that these two mechanisms may be seen as facets of a more general concern on the part of overweight people to secure behavioral guidance from the external environment, physical or social.

Cues↗
PubMed1981

On the induction of emotion in the laboratory: discrete moods or multiple affect states?

To study the effects of various emotions on behavior, psychologists have traditionally used one of a variety of mood-induction techniques. A manipulation check measuring the mood in question is used to determine the success of the mood induction. Evidence indicates, however, that attempting to induce one particular emotion may actually result in arousal of several affects. A series of laboratory studies and one naturalistic observation are reported that demonstrate that so-called standard manipulations for producing particular discrete emotions actually give rise to multiple moods. Even naturally occurring emotions seem to occur in clusters rather than singly. Implications for laboratory study of emotion and the nature of emotional responses in general are discussed.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1979

Effects of an observer on eating behavior: the induction of "sensible" eating.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the extent of caloric compensation to differential preloading among normally restrained and unrestrained female subjects. Subjects' eating was either explicitly observed or unobserved by the experimenter. Unrestrained eaters compensated appropriately for the preload, whether or not they were observed. Restrained eaters failed to compensate when unobserved , but compensated strongly when observed. A subsequent unobserved eating task revealed that restrained eaters failed to compensate for prior consumption when the observer was withdrawn. Implications for research and therapy are discussed.

Awareness↗
PubMed1979

Effects of a model on eating behavior: the induction of a restrained eating style.

An experiment was conducted to assess the effects of a same-sex model on females' eating behavior. The model ate either a large or small quantity along with the subject in an ad lib satiation context, and either did or did not identify herself as a dieter. Subjects were 86 female undergraduates, split into normally dieting or nondieting subgroups. Number of sandwich quarters consumed ad lib following a small fixed preload was found to vary as a function of (a) model's consumption (b) model's dieter status and (c) subject's dieter status; there were no significant interactions. A subsequent taste-rating assessment of nut consumption, in which the model was present but could neither see nor be seen by the subject, indicated that the three factors which had previously affected sandwich consumption independently combined to affect nut consumption interdependently. The results were interpreted in terms of the effect of the model on the quantity and pattern of consumption, and conclusions were drawn about the dynamics of restrained and unrestrained eating and implications for therapy.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1978

Distractibility in dieters and nondieters: an alternative view of "externality".

Two experiments were performed in an investigation of the effects of distraction and emotional arousal on the proofreading performance of dieting female subjects. In Experiment 1, it was found that distraction initially impaired the performance of dieters and facilitated the performance of nondieters, a pattern previously shown by Rodin to apply to obese and normal weight subjects, respectively, and interpreted as evidence of greater externality in the obese. Subsequent retesting of the same subjects in succeeding months, however, revealed a complete reversal of the original results. In Experiment 2, the reaction to distraction found in the first phase of Experiment 1 was obtained when subjects were in a situation of minimal threat. In a situation of high threat, the relative distractibility of dieters was reversed, as in the latter phases of Experiment 1. An explanation is offered for these data in terms of the greater emotionality of dieters, the susceptibility of cognitive performance to arousal (distraction, anxiety) manipulations, and the potentially competing effects of distraction and anxiety. Implications for the prevailing "trait" view of externality (stimulus binding) are discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1977

Psychological effects of mastectomy on a woman's feminine self-concept.

Previous literature on mastectomy indicates that the operation may be perceived by the patient as a threat to her feminity. Accordingly, the present study attempted to measure changes in body image, self-concept, and total self-image in mastectomy patients and two control groups (biopsy and surgical controls). Patients were given a questionnaire measuring the concepts in question three times: 1 day before surgery; 6 days after surgery; and 6 to 11 months later. There were distinctly different patterns of results for the three groups. Mastectomy patients did indeed evince a decline in body image and total self-image, but not until months after surgery. This was not unexpected in light of previous findings of massive denial in mastectomy patients. Immediately after surgery, this denial would be at its strongest, and it is feasible that it would take some months of reality testing until the denial is no longer a necessary defense. Biopsy patients showed a decline in body image and total self-image immediately after surgery, when their denial was no longer needed. Surgical control patients showed little overall change. Thus, mastectomy patients do appear to react to the operation with a decline in self-image, although this does not appear until some time after the operation.

Adult↗