It's not about control!

Perceived incompetence and disordered eating among college students

doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2007.06.004

Amanda G. Ferrier, a, and Matthew P. Martens

 

A few comments on a couple of notable remarks…

 

“One study found that individuals who generally restricted their dietary intake ate more after they had “failed” on a laboratory task (Heatherton, Polivy, Herman, & Baumeister, 1993). Another study found that the same effect existed for women exhibiting symptoms of bulimia nervosa; in this study, the authors found that eating more after induced failure on a laboratory task served to improve the mood of those who had failed (Kisler & Corcoran). Both studies concluded that women overeat after failure as a means of coping with negative affect. Additionally, it appears that women with disordered eating are more likely to pay selective attention to their failure experiences (Mansfield & Wade, 2000). Clearly, the concept of failure also shares a relationship with immediate eating patterns.”

 

While emotional eating is very common in our society, I bet most people would not assume that those with anorexia would (generally) also eat more in response to the feeling of failure.

 

The concept of perceived incompetence is distinct from the related concepts of ineffectiveness or task-specific failure, because it refers to a sense of inadequacy in a specific life domain, as opposed to a broader global sense of inadequacy or more specific failure on a specific activity.

 

Disordered eating may reflect an attempt to cope with negative affect inherent in feeling incompetent; some researchers have found that engaging in such unhealthy weight loss behaviors serves to increase affect ([Kisler and Corcoran, 1997] and [Stice et al., 2000]).If someone is not able to perform satisfactorily, or feels incompetent, in one area of his or her life, that person might be more likely to engage in unhealthy weight loss strategies as a way to maintain adequate self-esteem. In fact, it is possible that self-esteem acts as a mediating variable in this equation; feeling incompetent may lead to a decrease in self-esteem, and engaging in “successful,” albeit unhealthy, weight loss may serve to increase self-esteem by allowing the individual to feel that he or she is competent in the eating domain.

 Sure, starving or bingeing/purging may numb some of the negative feelings — or provide a distraction, if nothing else — and many anorexics and bulimics form an identity based on their success as an eating disordered individual. But I think that there is a third component. I think it goes beyond incompetency. There’s that persistent feeling of “not being enough.” The eating disorder shields you from that, because you are SICK. No one is expecting you to be the captain of any team or to handle everything in life yourself, because you have that sick identity. And you hold onto it because what if you AREN’T enough and you do fail in life–and as a person. You’re scared of screwing up and it’s a big risk to take, especially when you could hide from the real world behind the ED shield.

It’s not about control!

Perceived incompetence and disordered eating among college students

doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2007.06.004

Amanda G. Ferrier, a, and Matthew P. Martens

 

A few comments on a couple of notable remarks…

 

“One study found that individuals who generally restricted their dietary intake ate more after they had “failed” on a laboratory task (Heatherton, Polivy, Herman, & Baumeister, 1993). Another study found that the same effect existed for women exhibiting symptoms of bulimia nervosa; in this study, the authors found that eating more after induced failure on a laboratory task served to improve the mood of those who had failed (Kisler & Corcoran). Both studies concluded that women overeat after failure as a means of coping with negative affect. Additionally, it appears that women with disordered eating are more likely to pay selective attention to their failure experiences (Mansfield & Wade, 2000). Clearly, the concept of failure also shares a relationship with immediate eating patterns.”

 

While emotional eating is very common in our society, I bet most people would not assume that those with anorexia would (generally) also eat more in response to the feeling of failure.

 

The concept of perceived incompetence is distinct from the related concepts of ineffectiveness or task-specific failure, because it refers to a sense of inadequacy in a specific life domain, as opposed to a broader global sense of inadequacy or more specific failure on a specific activity.

 

Disordered eating may reflect an attempt to cope with negative affect inherent in feeling incompetent; some researchers have found that engaging in such unhealthy weight loss behaviors serves to increase affect ([Kisler and Corcoran, 1997] and [Stice et al., 2000]).If someone is not able to perform satisfactorily, or feels incompetent, in one area of his or her life, that person might be more likely to engage in unhealthy weight loss strategies as a way to maintain adequate self-esteem. In fact, it is possible that self-esteem acts as a mediating variable in this equation; feeling incompetent may lead to a decrease in self-esteem, and engaging in “successful,” albeit unhealthy, weight loss may serve to increase self-esteem by allowing the individual to feel that he or she is competent in the eating domain.

 Sure, starving or bingeing/purging may numb some of the negative feelings — or provide a distraction, if nothing else — and many anorexics and bulimics form an identity based on their success as an eating disordered individual. But I think that there is a third component. I think it goes beyond incompetency. There’s that persistent feeling of “not being enough.” The eating disorder shields you from that, because you are SICK. No one is expecting you to be the captain of any team or to handle everything in life yourself, because you have that sick identity. And you hold onto it because what if you AREN’T enough and you do fail in life–and as a person. You’re scared of screwing up and it’s a big risk to take, especially when you could hide from the real world behind the ED shield.