Health Psychology Research / HPR / Online First / DOI: 10.14440/hpr.2597831
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Hedonic Impulse Versus Slim Ideal in Young Dieting Females: The Moderating Role of Disinhibition

Shuaiyu Chen1 ,  Jiangtao Peng1 ,  Haozheng Shen1 ,  Lirong Yu1 ,  Todd Jackson2 ,  Matthew Lock1 ,  Debo Dong3 ,  Hong Chen3*
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1 Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 311121, China
2 Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China
3 Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
HPR 2025, 13(2), e81240001 https://doi.org/10.14440/hpr.2597831
Submitted: 9 December 2024 | Accepted: 23 March 2025 | Published: 9 June 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Background

In today’s food-rich society, the prevalence of dieting is remarkably high among adolescent girls and young females striving to achieve their ideal slim figure. Nonetheless, most individuals fail to maintain long-term dieting plans due to increased hedonic cravings for appetitive, high-calorie foods. Young dieting females are often confronted with two antagonistic motivational conflicts: the hedonic impulse and the pursuit of the slim ideal. Moreover, the trait of disinhibition plays a crucial role in dieting failures and hedonic overeating.

Objective

The present study aims to examine the moderating effects of the disinhibition trait on the antagonistic motivational processes between hedonic impulse and slim ideal pursuit among young dieting females.

Methods

Participants with high and low disinhibition traits performed a food-versus-figure task to determine the conflicting motivational processes.

Results

The findings showed that the balance between the hedonic “hot” and the slim ideal “cold” pathways was moderated by disinhibition. Specifically, only high-disinhibition dieters exhibited stronger food conflict than slim conflict, suggesting a pronounced preference for appetitive foods over the slim body ideal.

Conclusion

These findings enhance our understanding on the role of automatic hedonic impulse and the disinhibition trait in dieting failure, potentially clarifying why some individuals are more vulnerable to hedonic overeating and food addiction.

Keywords
Disinhibition
Motivational Conflicts
Hedonic Impulse
Slim Ideal
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 32100888 and 32271087), the Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation (grant number LQ21C090007), and the Medical and Health Technology Project of the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission (grant number 2021ky247).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
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Health Psychology Research, Electronic ISSN: 2420-8124 Published by Health Psychology Research
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