Abstract
The study of eating in psychology takes place primarily at the physiological level, and research themes generally view eating as a biological behavior, controlled by biologically-based motives. This paper emphasizes the role of mental processes involved in the starting and stopping of eating, as well as the importance of affective processes in eating behaviors. Cognitive eating controls found in dieters who eagerly desire to reduce their body weight are case in point; their eating behavior is difficult to explain without considering mental processes. However difficulties in predicting how emotions affect eating linger, as previous research examining the relationship between emotions and eating often suggest contradictory and confounding results. A five-way model proposed by Macht (2008) shows promise as a good tool to analyze these differing viewpoints, and develop hypotheses to investigate the relationship between emotions and eating.
