75 female University students were given either a body weight related questionnaire (QJ) or a control questionnaire (Q2) prior to taking the California Test of Personality (CTP), a measure of emotional adjustment. Overweight body image women given QJ had significantly lower emotional adjustment scores p < .01) regardless of actual body weight than all others. Women with normal images had higher CTP scores (p < .01). Women given Q2 had equivalent scores regardless of body weight or image. The study experimentally demonstrated that females emotionally respond to stimuli that focus attention on body weight, and the direction of their responses depends on body weight image.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Huenmann, R. L. , Shapiro, L. R., Hampton, M. C., & Mitchell, B. W. (1966). A longitudinal study of gross body composition and body conformation and their association with food and activity in a teen-age population. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 18, 325-338.
2.
Lerner, R. M. , & Karabenick, S. A. (1974). Physical attractiveness, body attitudes, and self-concept in late adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 11, 313-326.
3.
Lerner, R. M. , Orlos, J. B., & Knapp, J. R. (1976). Physical attractiveness, physical effectiveness, and self-concept in later adolescents. Adolescence, 11, 313-326.
4.
McReynolds, W. T. (1982). Toward a psychology of obesity: Review of research on the role of personality and level of adjustment. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2, 37-57.
5.
Nylander, I. (1976). The feeling of being fat and dieting in a school population. Acta Socio-Medicine Scandinavia, 1, 17-26.
6.
Orbach, S. (1979). Fat is a feminist issue. New York: Berkeley Books.
7.
Rosenbaum, M. (1979). The changing body image of the adolescent girl. In M. Sugar (Ed.), Female Adolescent Development (pp. 234-252). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
8.
Sallade, J. (1973). A comparison of the psychological adjustment of obese vs. nonobese children. Journal of Psychosomatic Responses, 17, 89-96.
9.
Schwartz, D. M. , Thompson, M. G., & Johnson, C. L. (1982). Anorexia nervosa and bulimia: The sociocultural context. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 3, 21-37.
10.
Swift, W. J. , & Stem, S. (1982). The psychodynamic diversity of anorexia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 1, 17-35.
11.
Thorpe, L. D. , Clark, W. W., & Tiegs, E. W. (1953). Manual: The California Test of Personality. New York: McGraw-Hill.
12.
Wolley, S. C. , & Wolley, O. (1979). Obesity and Women-I. A closer look at the facts. Women's Studies International Quarterly, 2, 69-79.
