MAINTAINING MOTIVATION AND REGULATING EMOTION IN DIETARY CHANGE PROCESS:

(THE ROLE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONAL)

 

Grazyna Wasowicz ¹, Magdalena Poraj-Weder²

^1,2 Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

 

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore the importance of motivation and emotion in the process of changing eating habits, and to estimate the role of health professionals in the process. A total of 341 individuals (40% of men, aged: 18–70) undergoing the process of change were recruited to participate in the study. Motivation was measured by Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (Diet) (Ryan & Connell, 1989; Levesque, Williams, Elliot, Pickering, Bodenhamer et al., 2007), emotions experienced in the process were assessed by Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2009) and emotional attitude towards a process of change – by scale, created for the purpose of tne study. Three measures of declared effectiveness of diet change were applied: objective (change in weight in kilograms) and subjective (evaluation of dietary change into more healthful food consumption and satisfaction with self-efficacy in the process). Results show that the support of a dietitian increases effectiveness defined in terms of satisfaction with self-efficacy (subjective measure) and weight change (objective measure). As far as improvement of diet is concerned – the only signifficant predictor is autonomous motivation and internalization of the principles of healthy nutrition. Autonomous motivation facilitates subjective satisfaction with self-efficacy, whereas external motivation is positively related to weight change. Positive emotions modify the relationship between different types of motivation (as defined within the Self-Determination Theory) and the effectiveness of the process.

Keywords: effectiveness in dietary change, motivation, emotion, health professional