No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative influence of stimulus cues and response tendencies on the behavior of average and consistently or inconsistently overweight individuals. The female undergraduate volunteers who participated in the study were assigned to one of three weight groups on the basis of weight history, present weight, and triceps skinfold measurements. The three groups included consistently average, consistently overweight, and "fluctuator" subjects. This last group consisted of subjects whose weights over the past two years had varied between the average and overweight classifications. There were 20 subjects in each of the three groups. All subjects completed two experimental tasks and were also administered the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), Form A. The first experimental task, used previously by Sikes, involved guessing the colors (black or red) of 120 consecutively presented cards. Seventy-five per cent of the first 90 cards in the series were black, while all of the remaining 30 cards were red. As expected, there were no performance differences between groups on the first 90 cards; however, on the last 30 cards consistently overweight participants made significantly more errors than either average or fluctuator subjects. This finding is consistent with Singh's deficit-in-response-inhibition hypothesis which maintains that overweight people have greater difficulty in changing established response tendencies than do people of average weight. It is noteworthy, however, that in the present study only people who had been consistently overweight for the past two years experienced more difficulty in changing their established responses. The second experimental task involved learning two paired associate word lists in an A-B/A-Br transfer paradigm. As expected, there were no performance differences between groups on the initial list. Contrary to expectations, however, there were also no differences between groups on the transfer list which required the suppression of previously established responses. Thus, in this situation consistently overweight subjects did not show the predicted deficit-in-response-inhibition effect. The results, then, offer partial support for Singh's interpretation of obesity in terms of differential response tendencies. No support is found for Schachter's interpretation which stresses the effects of external cues, since obese subjects did not show performance that was superior to that of average subjects at any point. Results from analyses of subjects' scores on the EPI indicated that there were no differences between the three weight groups on either extraversion or neuroticism. In addition to providing some support for Singh's hypothesis, the experimental findings in this study indicate that it is important to consider recent weight history as well as present weight when investigating behavioral differences between overweight and normal individuals. Implications of this research for treatment of overweight individuals were discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The World Health Organisation (2011) states that overweight and obesity is one of the most serious health problems of the 21st century. This is true of Africa as well. It is estimated that the number of overweight children in Africa has doubled since 1990 and growth rates of overweight and obesity are among the highest in Africa. South Africa’s overweight and obesity rates are among the highest in Africa. The South African National Health and Nutrition Survey (2013) found that the combined overweight and obesity prevalence in South Africa is 13,5% for children between the ages of six and 14 years; this is higher than the global prevalence of 10%. Therefore, overweight and obesity is threatening to become a major health concern in South Africa. When considering adolescents who are overweight and obese, it becomes apparent that it has a great impact on their mental health. Overweight and obesity during adolescence not only has a negative impact on their physical health but also their mental health, thus overweight and obesity should not only be addressed to improve the physical health but also the mental health of adolescents. The researcher aimed to explore the lived experiences of adolescent boys who are overweight and obese, to suggest guidelines to facilitate mental health in these boys. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual study design was followed. Research took place in two phases. The first phase was concerned with the description of the lived experiences of adolescent boys who are overweight and obese. In the second phase, guidelines were described to facilitate mental health in these boys. Ethical principles were adhered to from the onset of the study to ensure participants’ human rights were respected, that participants were treated with dignity and that no harm would come to them. Further, principles of fairness and justice were considered. The data were collected through in-depth phenomenological interviews. Interviews were conducted with 10 participants who met the sampling criteria and who were purposively selected. However, one participant’s interview was too short to be included. Consent was obtained from the participants.

Addictive patterns in anorexia nervosa and bulimia were examined in eighty one women between eighteen and forty years of age. Women were assigned to five groups based upon their eating behavior as follows: Group 1--Normal Comparison Group (no eating disorder; no substance abuse disorder); Group 2--Drug-Alcohol Comparison Group (no eating disorder; diagnosable substance abuse disorder); Group 3--Bulimic (bulimia without presence of anorexia nervosa; no substance abuse disorder); Group 4--Bulimic Anorectic (bulimia with presence of anorexia nervosa, either past or present; not substance abuse disorder); and Group 5--Eating Disordered With Drug-Alcohol Problem (bulimia with or without the presence of anorexia nervosa, either past or present; diagnosable substance abuse disorder). Addictive patterns were examined using a variety of personality and self-report measures including: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Partial Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI-P), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. It was hypothesized that the three eating disordered groups would share similar behavior patterns when compared to the normal and drug-alcohol comparison groups but would differ significantly from one another when just the three eating disordered groups were compared. The Eating Disordered With Drug-Alcohol Group would manifest the most pathology followed by the Bulimic Anorectic Group and then the Bulimic Group. The use of univariate analysis of variance and multiple discriminant function analysis confirmed these hypotheses. Variables that best discriminated among the groups were in the hypothesized direction and pertained to depression and impulsivity on the MMPI, efficiency and general drug effect on the ARCI-P and extraversion and low self-esteem on the Rotter and Rosenberg respectively. The study revealed that the patterns of pathology reflected in the eating disordered groups were in the predicted direction and are similar to the behavior and personality patterns observed in women with other addictions. Such findings have particular implications for the treatment of bulimic anorectics, as current treatment procedures are least effective with this eating disordered subgroup.

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M.A.(Psychology) / The principal aim of the present study was the determination of the role of aggression, the self concept and stereotyping in obesity. A subsidiary goal was to construct a scale for the measurement of stereotyping. A scale for the measurement of the stereotyping of obese women was constructed and applied to a general sample of 229 first year psychology students. This scale, namely the Attitude Questionnaire (AQ), comprised forty 7-point scales. The first 20 scales were designed to characterise obese women and the last 20 scales to characterise normal weight women. Separate item analyses were done for the first and the second parts of the scale. The first part of the scale yielded a reliability coefficient of 0,86 according to Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 and the second part a coefficient of 0,87. The first part of the scale was subjected to a factor analysis to determine its structure. It yielded a single second-order factor which was defined as "general stereotyping of obese women". Similarly the second part of the AQ yielded a single second-order factor which was defined as "general stereotyping of normal weight women". The scores of the student sample, in respect of the AQ,were used in order to determine their perception of obese women compared with normal weight women. The vector of means of obese women were contrasted with the vector of means of normal weight women and the difference between the two vectors was tested with the aid of Hotelling T2 (dependent test). The Hotelling T2 proved to be statistically significant and was consequently followed up by a series of t-tests. From the t-tests it transpired that the perception of the student sample of obese women was largely negative. A battery of tests comprising the Picture Situation Test (PST), the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, the Adolescent Self-Concept scale (ASCS) and the newly constructed AQ, was administered to 50 obese women who were members of the . Weight Watchers organisation (experimental group) and 50 Weight Watchers organisation (experimental group) and 50 normal weight women who worked for a large cosmetic company (control group)