Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Universitaetsstrasse 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
Appetite. 2013 Oct;69:114-22. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2013.05.012. Epub 2013 May 22.
Regulatory focus theory proposes two distinct modi of self-regulation, a promotion focus and a prevention focus. According to this theory, individuals in a prevention focus apply behavioral strategies to successfully avoid unpleasant outcomes and maintain a safe and secure state. By contrast, individuals in a promotion focus apply behavioral strategies to realize pleasant outcomes and to advance the current state. Applied to the context of eating behavior, regulatory focus theory suggests that individuals in a prevention focus should be especially sensitive to avoid socially inappropriate eating behavior. A way to ensure socially appropriate eating behavior is to follow social models. In the present research, we therefore tested the assumption that a prevention focus leads to stronger modeling effects in eating behavior than a promotion focus. In two studies, we manipulated individual's self-regulation states by putting individuals in a state of reflection about their hopes and aspirations (promotion focus) vs. a state of reflection about their duties and responsibilities (prevention focus). Participants then observed the consumption behavior of a second participant who either consumed or did not consume offered food (Study 1) or received incidental information about the amount of food an ostensible previous participant had consumed (Study 2). Across both studies, participants in a prevention focus matched their food consumption more closely to that of a present (Study 1) and not-present social model (Study 2), compared to participants in a promotion focus. The results advance our understanding of modeling effects in food intake by showing the importance of regulatory orientations.
监管焦点理论提出了两种自我调节的不同模式，即促进焦点和预防焦点。根据这一理论，处于预防焦点的个体应用行为策略来成功避免不愉快的结果，并保持安全和稳定的状态。相比之下，处于促进焦点的个体应用行为策略来实现愉快的结果，并推进当前状态。将这一理论应用于饮食行为的背景下，监管焦点理论表明，处于预防焦点的个体应该特别注意避免不适当的社交饮食行为。确保社交饮食行为适当的一种方法是遵循社会榜样。因此，在本研究中，我们检验了这样一种假设，即预防焦点会比促进焦点导致更强的饮食行为模仿效应。在两项研究中，我们通过让个体反思自己的希望和抱负（促进焦点）或反思自己的责任和义务（预防焦点）来操纵个体的自我调节状态。然后，参与者观察第二位参与者的消费行为，该参与者要么消费了提供的食物，要么没有（研究 1），要么偶然了解了一位看似之前的参与者消费的食物量（研究 2）。在这两项研究中，与处于促进焦点的参与者相比，处于预防焦点的参与者更能将自己的食物消费与当前（研究 1）和不存在的社交榜样（研究 2）的消费行为相匹配。研究结果通过展示监管取向的重要性，推进了我们对饮食摄入中模仿效应的理解。
