Previous research has shown that a mindfulness-based decentering technique can help individuals resist eating chocolate over a 5-day period. However, it is unclear how this technique exerts its effect. This study explored one potential mechanism; that decentering increases the cognitive accessibility of relevant goals. Male and female participants (n = 90) spent 5 min practicing either a decentering or relaxation (control) technique. They then viewed a picture of a chocolate bar for 3 min whilst either applying the decentering technique or letting their mind wander (control). Finally, all participants completed 20 letter strings, rated their motivation for weight loss and for healthy eating, and indicated whether or not they were dieting to lose weight. As predicted, those who had applied the decentering technique produced a greater number of health and weight loss related words when completing the letter strings, compared to those who had simply let their mind wander (p < 0.001). However, contrary to predictions, these effects were not significantly greater amongst those who were more motivated to lose weight or eat healthily, or amongst those who were dieting to lose weight, though the means were in the predicted directions. The results suggest that this particular mindfulness technique may increase the accessibility of relevant goals. Further research would be needed to (a) compare effects with other strategies that prompt individuals to remember their goals, (b) examine other potential mechanisms of action, and
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 8. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 09 September 2022.
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#78,528
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Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Psychology
#215
of 612 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,674,309 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 82nd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 31,579 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 12.6. This one has done well, scoring higher than 77% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 327,714 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 76% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 612 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 65% of its contemporaries.
