Body Dissatisfaction Revisited: On the Importance of Implicit Beliefs about Actual and Ideal Body Image

Abstract

Body dissatisfaction (i.e., a negative attitude towards one’s own physical appearance) is assumed to originate from a perceived discrepancy between the actual physical appearance (i.e., actual body image) and the desired ideal state of the body (i.e., ideal body image). We assessed implicit beliefs about these two aspects of the body image independently using two Relational Responding Tasks (RRT) in a sample of participants who were either low or high in explicitly reported body dissatisfaction. As hypothesized, differences in body dissatisfaction exerted a differential influence on the two RRT scores. The implicit belief that one is thin was less pronounced in participants who were strongly dissatisfied with their body relative to participants who were more satisfied with their body. The implicit desire to be thin (i.e., thin ideal body image), in contrast, tended to be more pronounced in participants who exhibited a high degree of body dissatisfaction as compared to participants who exhibited a low degree of body dissatisfaction. Hierarchical regression analyses also revealed that the RRT scores were predictive of self-reported body dissatisfaction, even over and above the predictive validity of some (but not all) explicit predictors of body dissatisfaction that were included in the present study. More generally, these findings contribute to the empirical validation of the RRT as a measure of implicit beliefs in the context of body dissatisfaction.

Implicit Measures of Actual Versus Ideal Body Image: Relations with Self-Reported Body Dissatisfaction and Dieting Behaviors

“…Since relational implicit measures are quite a new class of instruments, the first goal of this paper was to replicate the study of Heider et al ( 2018 ) and to test the robustness of these prior findings. More specifically, we used two RRTs to index implicit actual and ideal body image beliefs in a sample of women with either high or low body dissatisfaction (cf.…”

“…Both studies showed that female students high in self-reported body dissatisfaction were faster to classify statements according to the response rules “I am fat/I want to be thinner” in comparison to the response rules “I am thin/I want to be fatter”. It may be noted, however, that implicit body image did not predict self-reported body dissatisfaction over and above self-report (“explicit”) measures of actual and ideal body image (Heider et al 2015 , 2018 ). In sum, studies conducted so far indicate that self-reported body dissatisfaction indeed seems to be related to implicit actual and ideal body image (Heider et al 2015 , 2018 ), and there is some preliminary evidence that implicit actual body image predicts changes in body dissatisfaction over time (Juarascio et al 2011 ).…”

“…More specifically, we used two RRTs to index implicit actual and ideal body image beliefs in a sample of women with either high or low body dissatisfaction (cf. Heider et al 2018 ). In addition, we wanted to investigate whether implicit measures of actual and ideal body image (and their interaction) are predictive of body dissatisfaction over and above explicit measures of actual and ideal body image (cf.…”

“…However, this latter IRAP did not index whether individuals considered themselves to be thin or fat, nor did this study index implicit ideal body image. In two recent studies, Heider et al ( 2015 , 2018 ) did distinguish between implicit actual and ideal body image as separate components in one sample using two IRAPs and two RRTs, respectively. In a RRT, individuals are asked to indicate quickly whether statements do or do not correspond with a certain response rule.…”

An Inkblot for Beliefs: The Truth Misattribution Procedure

“…The TMP therefore provides researchers with the opportunity to assess discrepancies between automatic beliefs, beyond associations, which may provide further insight into this aspect of psychopathology. As mentioned earlier, relational indirect measurement procedures such as the IRAP and the RRT have already TRUTH MISATTRIBUTION PROCEDURE demonstrated utility in some such contexts [24,25,26,27]. The TMP may supplement this battery of measures in several ways.…”