In a 1998 article for the Journal of Applied Psychology, Stacey Sentyrz and Brad Bushman of Iowa State University hypothesized that self-awareness theory could be used to help dieters achieve and maintain your weight loss. Self-awareness theory is defined by Duval and Wickland (1972) as self-focused attention that leads people to compare their behavior to internal standards. The researchers used a two-part, two-location study, applying both laboratory and naturalistic observations and a participant survey. Sentyrz and Bushman (1998) stated that there was a marked difference in the consumption of whole foods versus healthier foods; “in both studies, individuals in the mirror group consumed less whole product than those in the no-mirror group” (p 994). The researchers used two different populations to conduct their experiment; a group of psychology undergraduate students who receive extra credit for attending and shopping at two local supermarkets. In both studies, equal numbers of adult men and women were tested. Children were excluded from the supermarket observation as adults chose which items to taste. In both studies, for half of the groups, a mirror was present with the observers. The data were analyzed by the researchers using multivariate regression analysis and hierarchical set analysis. The researchers pointed out that “the model also included two- and three-way interactions between the manipulated variable of self-awareness (i.e., mirror) and measured participant variables (i.e., diet status, gender). These interactions were calculated as multiplicative products of the main effects” (Sentyrz and Bushman 946). Participants in Study 1 were college students; they rated as…middle of the paper…healthier choices. Small changes in how the studies were conducted could provide more accurate results. This would definitely be a research project worth revisiting as over the next fifteen years since this study was conducted there have been rapid improvements in the quality of the products used in the experiment. Another series of experiments with a very different demographic could confirm Sentyrz and Bushman's hypothesis, along with continued study and confirmation of the theory of self-awareness. Works Cited Duval, S. & Wickland, RA. A theory of objective self-awareness. New York: Academic Press. 1972. Print.Sentyrz, S. & Bushman, B. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the thinnest of them all? Effects of self-awareness on consumption of whole-grain, reduced-fat, and fat-free products. . Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol 83, no. 6, page 944-949.