Personality trait a factor in weight loss: Study

Can personality trait be a factor in weight loss? A new study says yes. Stating an example, the study says being too optimistic could derail weight loss efforts. Patients who started the programme with high levels of self-orientation and optimistic characteristics were less likely to lose weight.

Can personality trait be a factor in weight loss? A new study says yes.

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Stating an example, the study says being too optimistic could derail weight loss efforts.

Hitomi Saito from Doshisha University, Japan, worked with a team of researchers to profile 101 obese patients undergoing combined counselling, nutrition and exercise therapy at the Kansai Medical University Hospital Obesity Clinic over a period of six months.

Patients who were able to improve their self-awareness through counselling were more likely to lose weight than those who were not.

Optimism and self-orientation characteristics improved for most patients after the six-month programme, although this was not related to weight loss.

In fact, patients who started the programme with high levels of self-orientation and optimistic characteristics were less likely to lose weight.

This result supports previous findings that some negative emotion has a positive effect on behaviour modification because patients care more about their disease, says a BioMed release.

"It is important to enhance patients' self-effectiveness and self-control in order to reduce psychological stress and to maintain the weight loss," state the study authors.

The study was published in open access journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine.