Indoor lighting preferences and bulimic behavior: an individual differences approach

Previous research suggests that evening constitutes a high-risk environment that increases the probability of binge eating and purging. One possible explanation for this finding is that exposure to dimmer light promotes behavioral disinhibition, thus undermining self-regulatory control and adherence to oneʹs dietary standards, resulting in the disinhibited eating that is the hallmark of bulimia. Two studies (n=245 and 156) tested the hypothesis that individual differences in preference for dimmer lighting while eating are directly associated with bulimic behavior in restrained eaters but unrelated to bulimic behavior in nonrestrained eaters. Undergraduates completed questionnaire measures of indoor lighting preferences, dietary restraint, bulimic behavior, and several other variables. Results of both studies showed that, as hypothesized, preference for dimmer light while eating correlated positively with bulimic behavior in restrained eaters (rs between 0.31 and 0.58) but was unrelated to bulimic behavior in nonrestrained eaters. Study 3 found that participants who reported clinically significant levels of bulimic symptomatology preferred dimmer lighting while eating than did participants who were identical in dietary restraint but whose bulimic symptomatology was not clinically significant. The discussion applies Carver and Scheierʹs [Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F., 1998. On the self regulation of behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press] self-regulation theory to explain individual differences in lighting preference as they pertain to bulimia.