How Weight Control Beliefs Influence Food Cravings in Overweight Adults

A New Study Links Food Cravings to How People Think About Control Over Their Weight

Food cravings may be more than fleeting temptations triggered by the sight or smell of a favorite meal. A study of 867 adults with overweight or obesity in Türkiye has found that cravings are associated with several different beliefs about who—or what—controls a person’s weight. The findings point toward a psychologically complicated relationship between body weight, eating behavior and personal responsibility, challenging the idea that cravings can be understood simply as a failure of willpower. Published in Current Psychology, the research reports that higher body mass index, or BMI, was associated with stronger internal weight locus of control and greater food-craving scores. At the same time, beliefs that weight is shaped by chance or by other people were also linked with cravings, particularly persistent thoughts about food and a perceived loss of control while eating.

The concept at the center of the study is known as locus of control. In psychology, it describes how people explain the causes of important events in their lives. Someone with a predominantly internal locus of control may believe that outcomes depend largely on their own decisions and actions. Someone with a more external locus of control may attribute outcomes to luck, fate, circumstances or the influence of other people. Weight locus of control applies this framework specifically to body weight and weight management. It is not a single yes-or-no characteristic, and a person can hold several kinds of control beliefs simultaneously. The Turkish study used the Multidimensional Weight Locus of Control Scale, which distinguishes internal beliefs from external beliefs involving chance and other people, allowing researchers to examine whether different explanations of weight were connected to different features of craving.

Food craving is also more complex than ordinary hunger. Hunger is a physiological signal that generally reflects the body’s need for energy, although it is influenced by many biological and environmental factors. A craving, by contrast, is an intense desire for a particular food or type of food. It can involve intrusive thoughts, vivid mental images, anticipation of eating and a sense that resisting will be difficult. The researchers assessed this trait using the reduced version of the Food Cravings Questionnaire, a psychological instrument designed to measure recurring patterns rather than a single episode of wanting chocolate, fast food or another highly appealing item. Its scores include dimensions related to preoccupation with food and loss of control over eating, two experiences that can influence how people respond to food cues in daily life.

The investigators conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among adults aged 18 to 64 living in Kırklareli province. Every participant had a BMI of at least 25.0 kilograms per square metre, the threshold used in the study to identify overweight or obesity. BMI is calculated by dividing body mass in kilograms by height in metres squared. It is useful for describing weight status across large groups, but it is an imperfect measure for individuals because it does not directly distinguish fat from muscle or capture fat distribution, metabolic health, genetics or social conditions. Participants completed an online questionnaire containing a form for demographic and descriptive information, the Food Cravings Questionnaire–Trait–Reduced and the Multidimensional Weight Locus of Control Scale. Because the design captured measurements at one point in time, it could reveal statistical associations but could not establish which factor came first.

The central result was a positive association between BMI and internal weight locus of control. In this sample, participants with higher BMI tended, on average, to report stronger beliefs that their weight was under their personal control. BMI was also positively associated with overall food-craving scores. These findings may initially appear counterintuitive: if people believe they control their weight, why might those beliefs coexist with higher BMI and stronger cravings? One possibility is that people who have repeatedly attempted to change their weight may become especially focused on personal responsibility, even when biological, environmental and social forces make weight regulation difficult. Another is that internal control beliefs could reflect active concern about weight rather than successful control of it. The study cannot determine which explanation is correct, and the observed relationships were generally modest.

The analysis also uncovered links between cravings and external forms of weight control belief. Internal weight locus of control, chance-based external control and other-people external control were all positively associated with total food-craving scores. These same three dimensions were associated with preoccupation with food and loss of control over eating. In statistical terms, the relationships suggest that craving may occur alongside apparently opposing explanations of weight: a person may feel that their own behavior matters while also believing that luck, fate or other people exert substantial influence. Human beliefs are rarely as neatly divided as psychological categories imply. A person trying to lose weight might blame themselves after an episode of overeating, attribute a plateau to bad luck or feel that family members, clinicians and social expectations shape what they eat—all within the same week or even the same day.

The result does not mean that a particular locus of control causes cravings, nor that people with strong internal beliefs are destined to gain weight. The researchers explicitly call for longitudinal studies to clarify the temporal direction and the psychosocial mechanisms involved. A longitudinal design could follow participants over months or years, measuring changes in weight, craving intensity, eating patterns, stress, dieting attempts and control beliefs. That approach could help distinguish several competing possibilities. Cravings might contribute to weight gain, while weight gain and repeated dieting might intensify cravings. Alternatively, stress, stigma, depression, sleep disruption, food insecurity or exposure to highly marketed foods could influence both craving and beliefs about control. The associations could also change over time, with a person’s sense of control shifting after successful or unsuccessful attempts at weight management.

Biology provides another reason to be cautious about interpreting control beliefs as simple indicators of behavior. Food intake is regulated by interacting neural, hormonal and metabolic systems. Signals from the gastrointestinal tract, adipose tissue and pancreas communicate information about energy availability to the brain, while reward circuits respond to the sensory and motivational properties of food. Highly palatable foods can activate neural pathways involved in reward learning and attention, making food cues more salient. Stress and inadequate sleep can further alter appetite regulation and decision-making. These processes operate within environments where inexpensive, energy-dense foods are widely available and aggressively promoted. A craving therefore reflects an interaction between physiology, learning, emotion and context—not merely a conscious choice. The study’s psychological findings fit within this broader model but do not measure its biological components directly.

The researchers say their findings could eventually inform more individualized approaches to weight management and eating-related care. If clinicians understand how a patient explains weight and craving, they may be able to identify unhelpful patterns without reinforcing shame. An intensely internal belief that weight is entirely a matter of personal control could encourage self-blame when biological or environmental barriers intervene. Conversely, a belief that weight is determined entirely by chance or other people could weaken confidence in achievable behavioral changes. Effective care may require a balanced model: individuals can make meaningful choices, but those choices are shaped by physiology, stress, resources, culture, medications, sleep, social relationships and the food environment. Addressing cravings might involve structured eating patterns, psychological support, environmental changes and treatment of coexisting conditions rather than moral judgments about discipline.

The study also highlights why food craving deserves attention as a clinically relevant construct. Cravings are not equivalent to an eating disorder, food addiction or binge-eating disorder, and the questionnaire used in the research does not establish any diagnosis. Nevertheless, frequent preoccupation with food and perceived loss of control can be distressing and may interfere with attempts to change eating patterns. The findings suggest that weight-related beliefs should be examined alongside these experiences, particularly among adults who have faced repeated dieting attempts or weight stigma. Since the data were collected online from one province and relied on self-reported questionnaires, the results may not generalize to all populations. The cross-sectional design also prevents causal conclusions. Even so, the large sample offers a useful signal: the mental framework people use to explain their weight may be entangled with the cravings they experience. Untangling that relationship could help shift weight science away from simplistic stories of willpower and toward a more precise account of how minds, bodies and environments jointly shape eating behavior.