Personality traits influence weight loss

Being too optimistic might harm those who want to lose weight, researchers in Japan said.
Hitomi Saito of Doshisha University in Japan worked with a team of researchers to develop psychological profiles of 101 obese patients undergoing combined counseling, nutrition and exercise therapy at the Kansai Medical University Hospital Obesity Clinic during a period of six months.
Patients' psychosocial characteristics before and after attending the clinic were assessed, using psychological questionnaires designed to identify patients' personality types.
The study, published in BioPsychoSocial Medicine, found patients who were able to improve their self-awareness through counseling were more likely to lose weight than those who were not. Optimism and self-orientation characteristics improved for most patients after the six-month program, although this was not related to weight loss.
Patients who started the program with high levels of self-orientation and optimistic characteristics were less likely to lose weight, the researchers said.