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Effects of Thought Suppression on Subliminally and Supraliminally Presented Food-related Stimuli

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2012

Peter J.N. Dejonckheere ,
Caroline Braet  and
Barbara Soetens
Peter J.N. Dejonckheere*
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium
Caroline Braet
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium
Barbara Soetens
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium
*
Address for correspondence: Peter Dejonckheere, Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium. Email: peter.dejonckheere@ugent.be
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Abstract

This study investigates whether hyperaccessibility occurs for supraliminally or subliminally presented sweets-related stimuli after prior suppression of thoughts about sweets. Thirty-three students (all female; 18—25 years old) participated in the experiment. In the first phase, half of the experimental group was instructed to suppress all sweets-related thoughts. The other participants were given control instructions. In the second phase, as part of a modified Stroop task, participants were asked to state the colour of a stimulus as quickly as possible. This stimulus could be presented either subliminally or supraliminally. In both conditions, neutral control words as well as sweets words were used. It was found that the participants in the suppression group, compared to those in the control group, showed attentional bias for the sweet-related suppressed thoughts, but that this effect was determined by the reaction times of subliminally presented sweets words. No differences were found for the control words. In addition, the study explored whether there was a relationship between thought suppression and dietary restraint attitudes. The link to dietary behaviour, however, remains unclear.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , 01 December 2003 , pp. 223 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

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