Scholarship & Research
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Item Impact of weight classifications on weight loss behavior: a regression discontinuity design(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2020) Worley, Ronald Wayne, III (Trey); Co-Chairs, Graduate Committee: Andrew Hill and Mariana CarreraAround 70% of US adults are overweight or obese, conditions strongly associated with medical issues and lower worker productivity. Efforts to address this issue have largely failed to instill long-term healthy living habits in individuals, and a better understanding of how individuals respond to these weight classifications may aid in creating effective interventions. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, I exploit the quasi-random assignment of weight classifications through the body mass index in a regression discontinuity design (RD) to analyze the impacts of overweight and obese assignments on weight change behavior and attempts to lose weight. My results suggest that individuals do not respond to these classifications by altering their weight change behavior or their efforts to lose weight. Limitations to my study make it uncertain whether this is the true relationship between weight classifications and weight-related behaviors. However, these findings align with previous research utilizing similar natural experiments. Future studies could exploit additional sources of variation in weight information, utilize different techniques, and explore alternative samples to contribute to the small, yet growing, literature on this topic.Item When does ostracism decrease self-regulation(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2008) Carter, Brett Edward; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Wesley C. LynchPrevious research in social psychology has suggested that ostracism has a negative impact on SE, and also can affect how much food individuals will consume. Moreover, research in the eating disorders literature shows a negative relationship between self-esteem and eating. As such, the present experiment was designed to merge these two lines of research to examine what causal role, if any, self-esteem plays in men's and women's food consumption. It was proposed that some individuals should show a lack of self regulation in terms of the type and amount of food eaten following ostracism. It was also predicted that this effect would have some possible moderators. To test this prediction, participants were randomly assigned to either an ostracism or inclusion condition within the computer game Cyberball. Results indicated that the ostracism manipulation did not result in the anticipated decrease in SE status nor did it cause any significant changes in eating behavior. Nevertheless, significant correlations between SE and body dissatisfaction (BD) were observed, as well as between BD and appearance based rejection sensitivity. There were also significant correlations between body mass index (BMI) and BD, as well as between SE and ARS in both genders. There was also a significant correlation between SE and BMI, but only for male participants. Exploratory analyses revealed that there may have been an unforeseen impact of experimenter gender on eating behavior post ostracism such that self presentation may have impacted the manner in which individuals responded to ostracism.