Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
Abstract
This is a qualitative study of the experience of hunger among women with no known eating disorders. Eight European American participants were recruited through a chain sampling strategy. Each participant completed two interview sessions, an initial open-ended interview and a follow-up. They were asked to describe their hunger experience and to tell stories that illustrated how food, eating, and cooking had impacted their relationship with food and their hunger experience. The data was analyzed from a Buddhist perspective. In contrast to the common understanding of hunger, participants experienced hunger both physiologically and psychologically. The results of the study indicate that psychological hunger plays a significant role in influencing participants' decision to eat when not physiologically hungry. The factors influencing the decision to eat or not to eat when perceiving hunger were identified. Participants described meanings of food and eating based on their own cultural experiences. Potential implications are considered for non-clinical women of different ethnicities in non-clinical settings.
Recommended Citation
Kim, Hyun Ok, "Psychological And Cultural Meanings Of Hunger: Women'S Experiences" (2008). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1043.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/1043