The Relationship Between Body Image, Internalization of Sociocultural Attitudes about Attractiveness, Eating Disturbance, and Reasons for Exercise in College Women

The Relationship Between Body Image, Internalization of Sociocultural Attitudes about Attractiveness, Eating Disturbance, and Reasons for Exercise in College Women PDF Author: Diana Slaviero
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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The Impact of the Internalization of Sociocultural Attitudes on Body Image, Disordered Eating, and Fitness Orientation in Male and Female Graduate Healthcare Students

The Impact of the Internalization of Sociocultural Attitudes on Body Image, Disordered Eating, and Fitness Orientation in Male and Female Graduate Healthcare Students PDF Author: Christina Terese Gentile
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Is Thin in

Is Thin in PDF Author: Kenya Irene Thompson-Leonardelli
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Abstract: Traditionally, body image disturbance and eating disorders have been viewed as a European American female phenomenon but a growing body of evidence suggests that women of color, including African American women, may also be susceptible. The present study investigated the relationships between African and European American women's socioculturally developed attitudes about being attractive and body image, disordered eating, and overall self-esteem. The two attitudes studied were: (1) to be beautiful you must be thin and, (2) to be beautiful you must be White. The second attitude was examined specifically in the African American sample, and was measured using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Participants, 131 African American and 165 European American female college students completed the IAT, Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire, Body Esteem Scale, Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Evaluation subscale, Body Shape Questionnaire-Revised, Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, Eating Attitudes Test, and a demographic questionnaire. Results supported the hypothesis that African American women exhibit more positive body images, less disordered eating characteristics, and higher overall self-esteem. As expected, analyses suggested that the race differences on body image, disordered eating and self-esteem were mediated by participants' beliefs that being thin is the ideal. However, the results also revealed variance in body satisfaction and disordered eating within both racial groups. Similar to European Americans, African Americans who espoused the thin ideal were more likely to be less satisfied with their bodies, to engage in disordered eating and to report lower self-esteem. Also, African Americans who showed the clearest implicit preference for European American appearance were reported greater dissatisfaction with their bodies and lower self-esteem. Finally, results only partially supported the hypothesis that greater body preoccupation would be associated with greater disordered eating and lower self-esteem in women with greater body dissatisfaction. The hypothesis was only supported with European American women when predicting self-esteem. Overall, the present study showed that similar sociocultural attitudes about beauty may affect African and European American women's body image and that the levels of body image disturbance and eating concerns in the African American community will continue to grow as these European American thin ideals flourish.

Body Image and Womanist Identity Development in College Women

Body Image and Womanist Identity Development in College Women PDF Author: Kimberly Lynn Parks
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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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.

Effects of Aerobic Exercise on State and Trait Body Image and Physical Fitness Among College Women

Effects of Aerobic Exercise on State and Trait Body Image and Physical Fitness Among College Women PDF Author: Sherri L. Hensley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aerobic exercises
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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The Relationship Between Body Images and Healthy Eating and Exercise Behaviors Among a Sample of Black Women

The Relationship Between Body Images and Healthy Eating and Exercise Behaviors Among a Sample of Black Women PDF Author: Kristin Joan Flynn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Black women are at high risk for obesity and obesity-related health problems such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Genetic predisposition and socioeconomic theories do not provide adequate explanation for why Black women are at high risk for obesity. Researchers have hypothesized that Black women's greater acceptance of a wider range of body sizes as attractive may make them less motivated to engage in weight-control. Few studies have addressed the relationship between body image and healthy eating and exercise behaviors among Black women. This is the first study known to examine these variables by using measures designed and validated among a sample of Black women. Eighty-seven Black women were recruited to participate in our survey. Hierarchical multiple and logistic regression analyses were used to determine whether body image variables predicted eating and exercise behaviors among Black women. Results suggest that obese women with greater body satisfaction were more likely to eat low fat foods and engage in regular exercise than obese women with less body satisfaction. Body image was not a predictor of healthy eating and exercise behaviors among nonobese Black women. These results challenge previous hypotheses that Black women's more positive body images place them at greater risk for obesity. Instead, this study suggests that positive body images are associated with healthy eating and exercise behaviors that reduce the risk for obesity and obesity-related diseases among Black women.

Body Image Disturbance

Body Image Disturbance PDF Author: J. Kevin Thompson
Publisher: Pergamon
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Includes Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire, Teasing Assessment Scale, Body Image Anxiety Scale, and the Multidimensional Body Self-relations Questionnaire. Table 4.1 includes a listing of measures used in theassessment of size estimation accuracy and subjective aspects of body image disturbance.

Fat Talk

Fat Talk PDF Author: Mimi Nichter
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674041542
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Teen-aged girls hate their bodies and diet obsessively, or so we hear. News stories and reports of survey research often claim that as many as three girls in five are on a diet at any given time, and they grimly suggest that many are “at risk” for eating disorders. But how much can we believe these frightening stories? What do teenagers mean when they say they are dieting? Anthropologist Mimi Nichter spent three years interviewing middle school and high school girls—lower-middle to middle class, white, black, and Latina—about their feelings concerning appearance, their eating habits, and dieting. In Fat Talk, she tells us what the girls told her, and explores the influence of peers, family, and the media on girls’ sense of self. Letting girls speak for themselves, she gives us the human side of survey statistics. Most of the white girls in her study disliked something about their bodies and knew all too well that they did not look like the envied, hated “perfect girl.” But they did not diet so much as talk about dieting. Nichter wryly argues—in fact some of the girls as much as tell her—that “fat talk” is a kind of social ritual among friends, a way of being, or creating solidarity. It allows the girls to show that they are concerned about their weight, but it lessens the urgency to do anything about it, other than diet from breakfast to lunch. Nichter concludes that if anything, girls are watching their weight and what they eat, as well as trying to get some exercise and eat “healthfully” in a way that sounds much less disturbing than stories about the epidemic of eating disorders among American girls. Black girls, Nichter learned, escape the weight obsession and the “fat talk” that is so pervasive among white girls. The African-American girls she talked with were much more satisfied with their bodies than were the white girls. For them, beauty was a matter of projecting attitude (“’tude”) and moving with confidence and style. Fat Talk takes the reader into the lives of girls as daughters, providing insights into how parents talk to their teenagers about their changing bodies. The black girls admired their mothers’ strength; the white girls described their mothers’ own “fat talk,” their fathers’ uncomfortable teasing, and the way they and their mothers sometimes dieted together to escape the family “curse”—flabby thighs, ample hips. Moving beyond negative stereotypes of mother–daughter relationships, Nichter sensitively examines the issues and struggles that mothers face in bringing up their daughters, particularly in relation to body image, and considers how they can help their daughters move beyond rigid and stereotyped images of ideal beauty.

Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Eating Attitudes of College Women

Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Eating Attitudes of College Women PDF Author: Victoria S. Becker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Body image
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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The Impact of Feminist Identity and Weight Bias on Body Image Disturbance and Eating Disorder Pathology in Treatment-seeking Women

The Impact of Feminist Identity and Weight Bias on Body Image Disturbance and Eating Disorder Pathology in Treatment-seeking Women PDF Author: Caitlin A. Martin-Wagar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Body image
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Eating disorders are associated with serious psychological and physical health problems (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Body image disturbance plays a vital role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders, especially for women (Culbert, Racine, & Klump, 2015). Self-objectification has been found to be a strong predictor of who is at highest risk of being impacted by societal messages about appearance and weight (Moradi & Huang, 2008). However, more information is needed about both protective and risk factors for internalizing these messages. Though several sociocultural factors have been examined in relation to body image, these studies have been conducted primarily with non-clinical college populations (Yager & O'Dea, 2008). In a sample of 100 women with diagnosed eating disorders, several sociocultural factors were explored as factors potentially impacting the severity of body image disturbance. Experiences of weight bias, internalized weight bias, and self-objectification were found to be related to increased body image disturbance and eating pathology, whereas feminist self-identification was overall not found to be significantly related to body image disturbance. These variables were examined in a conditional mediation model seeking to better understanding body image disturbance in this transdiagnostic sample of women with eating disorders. Results indicate that experiences of weight bias impact body image disturbance through internalized weight bias and self-objectification. However, feminist identity was not found to moderate this relationship. The findings in this study provide initial support for a model relating experiences of weight bias, internalized weight bias, self-objectification, and body image disturbance in women with a diagnosed eating disorder. Results also suggest that the role of weight bias deserves further examination in eating disorder treatment studies. Finally, results from this study suggest that sexism and weight bias may function as entirely self-sustainable systems of oppression. Thus, feminist self-identification does not necessarily protect eating disorder women from internalizing weight bias. More research is needed to more thoroughly understand the role of sociocultural variables in clinical populations of women with eating disorders.