A study was conducted to evaluate both generalized and task-specific sense of personal ineffectiveness, self-control, and evaluative distortion among thirty females with self-reported anorectic, obese, or normal weight and eating patterns. As predicted, obese and anorectics showed generally high sense of ineffectiveness relative to normals. However, obese differed from anorectics and normals by showing lower self-control. Anorectics provided clear evidence of cognitive processes which distort and devalue personal outcomes and probably reinforce sense of ineffectiveness. The psychological processes under study appear not to be limited to eating-related areas of functioning.
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