Pleasure in the mind: Restrained eating and spontaneous hedonic thoughts about food

Two experiments examined the impact of exposure to social food cues on the spontaneous activation of hedonic thoughts about food in restrained and unrestrained eaters. Consistent with hypotheses, it was found that restrained eaters, but not unrestrained eaters, spontaneously activate hedonic food thoughts upon reading behavior descriptions that involved a palatable food item. Moreover, it was shown that the activation of hedonic food thoughts in restrained eaters occurred on-line. These findings are discussed in the context of a motivational account of eating-regulation and the possible role of the spontaneous activation of hedonic thoughts about food in the self-regulation of restrained eaters.