Binge eating as escape from self-awareness.

Abstract

This article proposes that binge eating is motivated by a desire to escape from self-awareness. Binge eaters suffer from high standards and expectations, especially an acute sensitivity to the difficult (perceived) demands of others. When they fall short of these standards, they develop an aversive pattern of high self-awareness, characterized by unflattering views of self and concern over how they are perceived by others. These aversive self-perceptions are accompanied by emotional distress, which often includes anxiety and depression. To escape from this unpleasant state, binge eaters attempt the cognitive response of narrowing attention to the immediate stimulus environment and avoiding broadly meaningful thought. This narrowing of attention disengages normal inhibitions against eating and fosters an uncritical acceptance of irrational beliefs and thoughts. The escape model is capable of integrating much of the available evidence about binge eating.

Racial variations in binge eating, body image concerns, and compulsive exercise among men.

“…Yet, there were no differences in body satisfaction levels between groups. These findings are inconsistent with popular theoretical conceptualizations of binge eating (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991;Polivy & Herman, 1985), which posit that this behavior results from negative affect caused by body dissatisfaction. Additional research is needed to evaluate the validity of current etiological theories for binge eating in racially and ethnically diverse samples of men.…”

Racial variations in binge eating, body image concerns, and compulsive exercise among men.

“…Yet, there were no differences in body satisfaction levels between groups. These findings are inconsistent with popular theoretical conceptualizations of binge eating (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991;Polivy & Herman, 1985), which posit that this behavior results from negative affect caused by body dissatisfaction. Additional research is needed to evaluate the validity of current etiological theories for binge eating in racially and ethnically diverse samples of men.…”

The moderating role of self‐compassion on weight and shape concerns and eating pathology: A longitudinal study

“…Our findings support our hypothesis that self‐compassion may serve a protective role in preventing the development and/or increase of disordered eating, which is consistent with the previous literature (e.g., escape model (Heatherton & Baumeister, ). Perhaps individuals who have weight/shape concerns are able to cognitively reframe and/or express self‐kindness amidst those appearance concerns, which reduces the likelihood of engaging in a range of disordered eating behaviors and decreases the frequency of eating LOC episodes, and the severity of the LOC while eating.…”

Appetitive and Aversive Motivation in Dysregulated Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis

“…As predicted, binge eating and nonsuicidal self-injury were significantly positively related to self-reported aversive motivation. This finding fits with previous theories on the functions of these behaviors (Chapman et al, 2006; Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991) and research (e.g., Sadeh & Baskin-Sommers, 2017). Together these behaviors could be interpreted to be aversive-correlated dysregulated behaviors.…”

Racial variations in binge eating, body image concerns, and compulsive exercise among men.

“…Yet, there were no differences in body satisfaction levels between groups. These findings are inconsistent with popular theoretical conceptualizations of binge eating (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991;Polivy & Herman, 1985), which posit that this behavior results from negative affect caused by body dissatisfaction. Additional research is needed to evaluate the validity of current etiological theories for binge eating in racially and ethnically diverse samples of men.…”

The moderating role of self‐compassion on weight and shape concerns and eating pathology: A longitudinal study

“…Our findings support our hypothesis that self‐compassion may serve a protective role in preventing the development and/or increase of disordered eating, which is consistent with the previous literature (e.g., escape model (Heatherton & Baumeister, ). Perhaps individuals who have weight/shape concerns are able to cognitively reframe and/or express self‐kindness amidst those appearance concerns, which reduces the likelihood of engaging in a range of disordered eating behaviors and decreases the frequency of eating LOC episodes, and the severity of the LOC while eating.…”

Appetitive and Aversive Motivation in Dysregulated Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis

“…As predicted, binge eating and nonsuicidal self-injury were significantly positively related to self-reported aversive motivation. This finding fits with previous theories on the functions of these behaviors (Chapman et al, 2006; Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991) and research (e.g., Sadeh & Baskin-Sommers, 2017). Together these behaviors could be interpreted to be aversive-correlated dysregulated behaviors.…”

Racial variations in binge eating, body image concerns, and compulsive exercise among men.

“…Yet, there were no differences in body satisfaction levels between groups. These findings are inconsistent with popular theoretical conceptualizations of binge eating (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991;Polivy & Herman, 1985), which posit that this behavior results from negative affect caused by body dissatisfaction. Additional research is needed to evaluate the validity of current etiological theories for binge eating in racially and ethnically diverse samples of men.…”

The moderating role of self‐compassion on weight and shape concerns and eating pathology: A longitudinal study

“…Our findings support our hypothesis that self‐compassion may serve a protective role in preventing the development and/or increase of disordered eating, which is consistent with the previous literature (e.g., escape model (Heatherton & Baumeister, ). Perhaps individuals who have weight/shape concerns are able to cognitively reframe and/or express self‐kindness amidst those appearance concerns, which reduces the likelihood of engaging in a range of disordered eating behaviors and decreases the frequency of eating LOC episodes, and the severity of the LOC while eating.…”

Appetitive and Aversive Motivation in Dysregulated Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis

“…As predicted, binge eating and nonsuicidal self-injury were significantly positively related to self-reported aversive motivation. This finding fits with previous theories on the functions of these behaviors (Chapman et al, 2006; Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991) and research (e.g., Sadeh & Baskin-Sommers, 2017). Together these behaviors could be interpreted to be aversive-correlated dysregulated behaviors.…”