Body Image and Womanist Identity Development in College Women PDF Download

Author: Kimberly Lynn Parks
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Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
Abstract: Researchers have found that a significant number of women report dissatisfaction with their bodies (Cash & Henry, 1995; Cash, Morrow, et al., 2004; Heatherton et al., 1997). Many researchers consider dissatisfaction with one's body one of the most important aspects of body image disturbance (BID). Body image disturbance results in a number of negative consequences for women, such as disordered eating (Cash & Deagle, 1997; Stice, 2002), depression (Denniston et al., 1992; Mintz & Betz, 1986), social problems (Cash & Szymanski, 1995; Cash et al., 2004; Harris, 1994), and overall life dissatisfaction (Cash & Fleming, 2002). Research on body image has attempted to address the sociocultural pressure placed on women to live up to the thin ideal and the subsequent impact that has on body image disturbance (Fallon, 1990; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, & Rodin, 1986; Thompson et al., 1999). In fact, it has recently been suggested that the focus on physical attractiveness in gender identity development may play an important role in the prevalence of BID, and contribute to the epidemic of body image disturbance seen in women (Fallon, 1990; Thompson et al., 1999). Both the feminist identity development model (Downing & Roush, 1985) and the womanist identity development model (Helms, 1990, as cited in Ossana et al., 1992) attempt to explain the process a woman goes through in developing a sense of herself as a woman. Research has been mixed regarding the relationship between feminist identity development and body image disturbance (Cash et al., 1997; Dionne et al., 1995; Kelson et al., 1990; Mintz & Betz, 1986; Peterson et al., 2006; Snyder and Hasbrouck, 1996). Relative to the feminist model, the womanist identity development model may be a better model for addressing identity development of women who fall outside of the feminist category since it does not require the adoption of a feminist political stance (Ossana et al., 1992). However, little research has been done exploring the relationship between womanist identity attitudes and body image disturbance in women. The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between body image disturbance, psychological investment in appearance, influence of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, psychological distress, and womanist identity development in college women. A total of 155 women were recruited from introductory psychology courses at a university in the Southeastern United States. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and questionnaires assessing body image disturbance, psychological investment in appearance, influence of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, womanist identity attitudes, and psychological distress. Hiearchical regressions were conducted to examine the hypotheses. Pearson product-moment correlations were used to assess the relationships among variables of interest and to assess for multicolinearity. Post-hoc independent samples t-tests were utilized to examine racial differences and differences between sorority and non-sorority members. Results showed psychological investment in appearance and influence of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance accounted for significant variance in body image disturbance. It was also found that body image disturbance, self-evaluative salience, and Immersion-Emersion attitudes predicted higher levels of psychological distress. In addition, race and sorority membership predicted levels of influence of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance and motivational salience. Contrary to predictions, womanist identity attitudes were not related to psychological investment in appearance or influence of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance. Immersion-Emersion attitudes were related to body image disturbance, but not in the expected direction. Several reasons are proposed for the unexpected findings, including issues with the womanist identity development model and sample characteristics. Limitations of the study are also discussed.