The main goal of this study was to provide distributive data for the Palatable Eating Motives Scale (
PEMS) on a large (N=1947) ethnically-diverse college student population along with motive scores characteristic of
obesity and
binge-eating severity. Students completed the
PEMS, or a revised version of the
PEMS, the
Binge Eating Scale, and reported height and weight for a body mass index (BMI). The
PEMS identified Coping, Reward Enhancement, Social, and Conformity motives for eating tasty but unhealthy foods for reasons other than hunger. The revised
PEMS (included here) had better goodness-of-fit with the motives. Percentile rankings are presented for each of the motive scores. Separate Coping scores are presented for females and males given a modest effect size for females to score higher. Generally, scores on Coping, Reward Enhancement, Conformity, and a total
PEMS score in the 70th percentile (those scoring higher than 70% of the sample) were associated with
obesity and severe
binge-eating. Unlike these motives, Social scores were the highest at each percentile rank but unassociated with BMI or
binge-eating, reflecting the culturally-normative intake of these foods for social reasons. These distribution scores on
PEMS motives in college students along with scores linked to higher BMI and
binge-eating severity represent the first reported data of this type. Knowledge of these scores can be used to individualize and correspondingly improve current strategies aimed at preventing and treating
obesity,
binge-eating, maladaptive use of food to regulate internal and external pressures, and to improve overall nutritional health.