Restrained eating among vegetarians: Does a vegetarian eating style mask concerns about weight?

The present study explored the relationships among dietary style (ranging f rom meat eating to veganism), cognitive restraint and feminist values. Two- hundred and twenty-seven participants with varying dietary styles completed the restraint subscale of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) and Attitudes Towards Feminism Scale (ATFS). Results indicated that among male s, those who are high in cognitive restraint are more likely to exhibit a v egetarian dietary style than those low in cognitive restraint. Among women who are high in feminist values, those with high cognitive restraint are mo re likely to exhibit a vegetarian dietary style than those with low cogniti ve restraint, whereas for women low in feminist values those with high and low cognitive restraint are equally likely to exhibit vegetarian and non-ve getarian dietary styles. It is suggested that for some individuals, adoptio n of a vegetarian dietary style is an attempt to mask their dieting behavio ur from others. (C) 1999 Academic Press.