Film-induced sadness as a trigger for disinhibited eating

Objective: We tested whether film-induced sadness enhances food intake in r estrained eaters. Method: Female participants scoring either high or low on a measure of dietary restraint viewed two film segments in counterbalanced order on successive days: an emotionally neutral travelogue and a sad film depicting the death of the young female protagonist. Results: Contrast ana lyses revealed that film-induced sadness significantly reduced food intake in low-restraint individuals, but only nonsignificantly increased it in hig h-restraint individuals. Discussion: When sadness is induced without an app arent ego threat, high-restraint participants may not exhibit as much disin hibited eating as when they are exposed to mood inductions that threaten th eir self-esteem. (C) 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.