The interaction of sociocultural attitudes and gender on disordered eating

Abstract

Objective The Tripartite Influence Model posits that social agents emphasize a thin ideal for women and a muscularity ideal for men. There is a gap in the literature of how sociocultural body ideal internalization affects overall disordered eating symptoms in men and specifically drive for muscularity in women. Method The sample consisted of 1,929 participants (44.2% men) who completed online surveys. It was predicted that internalization would be a stronger predictor for overall disordered eating in women and for muscularity in men. Results Women with high internalization had increased disordered eating symptoms in comparison to men, whereas for men, increased internalization was linked to more drive for muscularity, as compared with women. Conclusions It is important to emphasize, however, that men still exhibited higher rates of disordered eating symptoms when they had increased internalization and women exhibited an increased drive for muscularity when they had higher internalization.

<p>Emphasizing the “Cultural” in Sociocultural: A Systematic Review of Research on Thin-Ideal Internalization, Acculturation, and Eating Pathology in US Ethnic Minorities</p>

“…Although thin-ideal internalization is historically framed through a gender-based lens, emerging research suggests that men experience considerable sociocultural pressure to maintain a thin and fit physique. 5,6 As men are exposed to Western values, they become aware of a largely unattainable thin, muscular, athletic societal ideal for men. Whereas women are generally focused on thinness (ie, thin-ideal internalization), men may focus on thinness and/or gaining muscle (referred to as athletic-ideal internalization 27,28 ) as both reflect Western cultural values and ideals of appearance for men.…”

“…In addition, some research suggests that ethnic and racial minority men endorse greater body dissatisfaction 32 and use more extreme body-altering behaviors compared to White males. 5,6 For example, in a recent study of 343 college men, 33 Asian American and Hispanic/Latino men reported greater drive for muscularity, muscle dysmorphia, global eating pathology, body checking, binge eating, and driven exercise compared to African American and European American men. In addition, given that rates of overweight or obesity tend to be higher in ethnic minority groups in the US 34 and are directly counter to US ideals of appearance for both men and women, 35,36 adolescent boys and men from ethnic/racial minority groups who are overweight may be more likely to internalize a male thin-ideal and strive to lose weight.…”

“…A large body of research suggests that thin-ideal internalization is a robust predictor of eating pathology in women, [1][2][3][4] and to some extent, in men. 5,6 Defined as the personal acceptance and endorsement of thin cultural body ideal, research suggests that thin-ideal internalization is positively correlated with numerous aspects of eating pathology, including body dissatisfaction, 7 disordered eating, 3 binge eating, 8 purging, 9 and dietary restriction 10 in adult samples of women. Furthermore, a recent meta-analysis 3 found that thin-ideal internalization prospectively predicts disordered eating cognitions and behaviors, with small-to-medium effect sizes.…”

Somatotype Components as Useful Predictors of Disordered Eating Attitudes in Young Female Ballet Dance Students

“…The differences in the somatotype component associations between the study groups can be explained by the following reasons: the shorter height in the BT group increased mesomorphy scores, and although no significant differences in mesomorphy scores were found between groups, the levels were slightly higher in the BT group. In other words, the musculoskeletal structure was proportionally larger, and therefore a negative body image could have been internalized [ 34 ]. This also occurred with ectomorphy, since higher weight in relation to shorter height resulted in a lower ectomorphy value.…”

Mapping the abject: Women's embodied experiences of premenstrual body dissatisfaction through body-mapping

“…Previous research has reported that internalisation of societal expectations of idealised feminine bodies is associated with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviours in women (Douglas et al, 2019;Seekis et al, 2020). Within Western culture, the ideal white hetero-feminine body is the thin, toned, attractive, controlled body, leading to positioning of the fat body as monstrous, disgusting, undisciplined and out of control (Bordo, 1993;Colls, 2007).…”