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Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Effects of weight and shape on attractiveness ratings of female line drawings by restrained and nonrestrained eaters

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Abstract

This study tested the differences between restrained and nonrestrained eaters' attractiveness perceptions of female line drawings, of their own figures, and the ideal female figure. Female line drawings varied systematically in body weight and in waist and hip circumference. Forty-six female undergraduate students, 23 nonrestrainers and 23 restrainers, rated stimuli in attractiveness, identified the figure which best represented their own body type (PAF), and the ideal body figure (IF) according to the Restraint Scale [RS; Herman, C. P., & Polivy, J. (1980). Restrained eating. In: A. Stunkard (Ed.), Obesity (pp. 208-225). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders]. Restrainers did not generally differ from nonrestrainers in attractiveness ratings or in their choice of IF. However, differences between IF and PAF were larger in restrainers than in nonrestrainers because restrainers chose PAFs with larger hips than nonrestrainers did. This difference between the restraint groups was independent of between-group differences in hip size. This discrepancy between IF and PAF may contribute to the restrainers' motivation to diet.

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... Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). Many women experience a discrepancy between their current and ideal body weight, and this discrepancy, which plays a role in body-image disturbance, is a significant predictor of eating disorder symptoms (Corning, Krumm, & Smitham, 2006;Forestell, Humphrey, & Stewart, 2004). Interestingly, women with negative body images have been found to also judge others against societal standards of beauty (Forestell et al., 2004). ...
... Many women experience a discrepancy between their current and ideal body weight, and this discrepancy, which plays a role in body-image disturbance, is a significant predictor of eating disorder symptoms (Corning, Krumm, & Smitham, 2006;Forestell, Humphrey, & Stewart, 2004). Interestingly, women with negative body images have been found to also judge others against societal standards of beauty (Forestell et al., 2004). Although research on ideal body sizes has examined how rater characteristics (e.g., dietary restraint) may affect perceptions of attractiveness, few studies have examined the characteristics of the target figure that may alter this ideal or increase the range of body sizes that are considered attractive. ...
... In other words, males were expected to choose a more restricted range for attractiveness ratings. Consistent with previous research, it also was hypothesized that other rater characteristics, including rater body image and body mass, would influence ratings of female figures (Forestell et al., 2004). ...
Article
In the present study, the influence of personality information on attractiveness ratings of different body sizes was examined. Specifically, participants were presented with either no personality information, negative information, or positive information about a hypothetical female target and asked to rate the smallest and largest figure that they would consider attractive for her using a figure rating scale. Consistent with the study hypotheses: (1) participants chose a wider range of figures as attractive for a female described to have a positive personality when compared to the range chosen when no personality information was provided; (2) females selected wider attractive ranges than males; and (3) other participant characteristics (i.e., physical appearance anxiety and body mass) were found to predict attractive ranges selected by participants. These findings may have implications for the treatment of body-image disturbance, as the findings suggest that personality, rather than appearance alone, may be a factor in perceptions of attractiveness of various body sizes.
... Body image with cognitive, affective and behavioral influences, based on two basic components: perception of current body size and body shape. Since high worry on body image found to be a risk factor for eating disorders, researchers currently have focused on individual's body shape and size perceptions and eating attitudes [4][5][6]. Although most of the current studies have concerned about university students' problems associated with eating attitudes only some of them were related to body shape dissatisfaction [1,[7][8][9]. ...
... One study determining relation of dissatisfaction of body shape with unhealthy behaviors among university students reported that students choose silhouettes that were underweight to represent their current or desired body sizes and to engage in dieting behaviors [27]. Recent studies estimated the BMI associated with FRS figures, subjective perception of the own body image scale, establishing normative data for adults [4,24,28]. This is an important feature of the scale, since it can now be used to estimate the BMI in situations where weight and height are not available and also to empirically evaluate if a person distorted body image [28][29][30]. ...
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Chapter
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If you enter the word “beauty” in a search engine, almost all the pictures you will see appear on your computer screen are of attractive young women. In Western society, the concept of beauty is closely associated with physical attractiveness and especially feminine physical attractiveness. Beautiful women are everywhere: on the walls of our cities, on the screens of our movie theaters, on the glossy paper of our magazines. But is this phenomenon restricted to contemporary societies? It does not seem so, as women’s beauty has occupied the minds of painters, poets, philosophers, musicians, and writers for centuries. Indeed, in arts, depictions of idealized female beauty far outweigh those depicting ideals of male beauty. Why are human beings so fascinated by female attractiveness? The aim of this chapter is to show how evolutionary theory can help us to understand this passion for women’s bodies and their beauty, and explore what the arts can teach us about human beauty while addressing the question of its universality.
... Une étude canadienne a montré que les femmes qui restreignaient leur alimentation percevaient leur silhouette avec des hanches plus larges que celles qui ne se restreignaient pas. [14]. Dans une étude japonaise, près de la moitié des femmes de l'échantillon [n=1731 ; âge : 15 à 39 ans] de poids normal se perçoit comme étant en surpoids ou obèse et près de 44% exprimaient le désir d'être mince, voire maigre [17]. ...
... In one study it was found that over two-thirds of those diagnosed with eating disorders were classified as restrained eaters (Rand et al., 1991). Dietary restraint is positively correlated with poor body image and weight concern (Harris, 1983;French et al., 1995;Tiggemann, 2001;Wilksch et al., 2004); body checking and monitoring Reas et al., 2005); and distorted body images and overvaluation of appearance, weight and shape (Enns et al., 1987;Nelson et al., 1993;Steere et al., 1993;Dewberry et al., 1994;Singh, 1994;Hill et al., 1995;Masheb et al., 2000;Benedito Monleon Mf et al., 2003;Forestell et al., 2004;Grilo et al., 2005;Reas et al., 2005). Compared to women with low dietary restraint scores, those with high scores are more likely to have a history of eating disorders and be currently trying to lose weight (Rand et al., 1991;McLean et al., 2003). ...
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This paper critically reviews research on the psychosocial associations of dietary restraint and evaluates its usefulness in the promotion of healthy weight management. It is concluded that dietary restraint is a sociocultural phenomenon associated with the culture of thinness which impacts women more than men. Dietary restraint is further associated with numerous measures of negative affect, diminished cognitive functioning, body dissatisfaction, overvaluation of weight and shape, and eating disorders. Caution is indicated in the promotion of dietary restraint as a general principle for managing weight. Recommendations are discussed.
... The discrimination and social ostracism of large-sized individuals may be undergirded by a variety of negative attitudes that people hold toward them. These include being viewed as lazy (Tiggemann & Rothblum, 1988;Tiggemann & Wilson-Barrett, 1998), unattractive (Forestell, Humphrey, & Stewart, 2004;Polinko & Popovich, 2001;Tiggemann & Rothblum, 1988;Tiggemann & Wilson-Barrett, 1998), unhealthy (Bellizzi & Norvell, 1991;Gaesser, 1996;Hebl & Xu, 2001;Markey, Tinsley, Ericksen, Ozer, & Markey, 2002;Rothblum, 1994), unhappy (Harvey & Hill, 2001;Tiggemann & Rothblum, 1988), lacking in self-control or self-discipline (Bellizzi & Norvell, 1991;Maroney & Golub, 1992), less intelligent (Crandall, 1994), and possessing unpleasant personality characteristics (Hiller, 1981). ...
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Studies have used a variety of terms, often interchangeably, to describe large-sized people. Using stigma theory as a framework, we presented participants with a personal advertisement in which the advertiser described herself, including her physical size. We manipulated the weight descriptor by including a negative, positive, or objective descriptor, or no descriptor as a control. Participants were 238 undergraduate students who rated the advertiser on 7 semantic differentials. Negative descriptors tended to generate the most negative evaluations, while positive descriptors tended to alleviate some of the stigma associated with being large-sized. However, control targets with no weight descriptor were viewed the most positively. Implications of this study are wide ranging, including applications for research, theory, and clinical practice.
... The source of this dissatisfaction may be a function of the difference between how they view their current body shape and their idealized shape. Discrepancy between current and ideal body shape has been found to be related to psychological distress such as body dysmorphic disorder, low self-esteem, bulimia nervosa and high dietary restraint (Doll & Fairburn, 1998;Forestell, Humphrey, & Stewart, 2004;McKinley, 1998;Veale, Kinderman, Riley, & Lambrouu, 2003). ...
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Bariatric surgery frequently leads to rapid weight loss post-surgery that may impact participants' ability to gauge a realistic ideal body shape. In the present study, 57 obese participants' perception of their current and ideal body shape pre and post gastric bypass surgery were assessed. Results indicate prior to surgery, participants reported a 4 point difference between current and desired body shape. One year post surgery, as their own body shape decreased, so did the size of their ideal body shape (4.1-3.3). These findings suggest a consequence of rapid weight loss may suggest to participants that unrealistic body shapes are attainable. Implications for patient counseling are discussed.
... 32 Even traits such as eating behavior, especially restraining one's eating, interact with perceptions of female body shape attractiveness. 33 Further considerations: the mode of presentation If the controversies within each of the factors were to be resolved, there exists at least one issue that still requires consideration -the venue in which the woman's attractiveness is judged. For example, an attractive woman acting in a movie does not necessarily have the same morphology as an attractive woman in a photograph. ...
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Using figure drawings, perception of body shape was evaluated by underweight, average, and overweight men and women. Body-shape dissatisfaction was greatest for 60 overweight women, and about the same in 151 average weight women as it was for 102 overweight men. Average weight men (n = 107) and underweight women (n = 31) were fairly satisfied with their current shapes. Both men and women had distorted views of the shape the opposite sex found most attractive. Women guessed that men would prefer a thinner shape than they actually did, and men guessed that women would prefer a larger shape than they actually did. The distortion was larger for men as their own size increased but not for women.
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Recent research has led to increasingly sophisticated conjectures as to the roles that genetic heritage, prior experience, and environmental context play in the production and maintenance of complex behaviors. The field of evolutionary psychology was born of such conjectures (Stanley, 1895) and now serves as a niche for a growing number of researchers (Buss, 1995; Kenrick, 1994). One of the more provocative lines of experimental research to emerge from this alembic derives from the linkage of evolutionary theories of human mate selection with definitions of physical attractiveness based on somatic characteristics that simultaneously signal attractiveness and predict reproductive potential (Buss, 1989). The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) has been purportedly demonstrated to be a robust example of just such an invariant perceptual cue (e.g., Henss, 1995; Singh, 1993a). Here, we report that judgments of attractiveness and fecundity can be either unrelated or related, positively or negatively, to the WHR depending on waist size, hip size, and weight, and are thus inconsistent with the evolutionary argument that human physical attractiveness is fundamentally a sign of mate value.
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We tested the degree to which various body-shape characteristics influence women's ratings of attractiveness for female figures. Line drawings (Tassinary & Hansen, 1998), 150], ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 in waist–hip-ratio (WHR) and varying systematically in body weight and in waist and hip circumference, were rated on attractiveness by 46 female undergraduates. In general, participants preferred figures that had WHRs around 0.7. As body size increased, larger WHRs tended to be more preferred. Figures with small and medium waists and hips were generally preferred regardless of body weight. But, figures with large hips were preferred less regardless of other shape characteristics. Results suggest that body weight, waist size, and hip size all interact to influence women's ratings of attractiveness of other female figures.
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Weight dissatisfaction, dieting, and weight change, assessed by question-naires, were studied in 471 subjects stratified by gender, age (20-60+ years) and weight (normal/obese), participating in the RENO Diet Heart Study. Female and obese subjects had more weight dissatisfaction, dieting, and binges and were more overweight in adolescence. Females andmales were similar with regard to reported childhood obesity, but a trend toward greater obesity for the age period of 11-13 years, in females, became significant for the 14-17 year age period. Total lifetime pounds lost was significantly associated with factors of dissatisfaction/dieting, pre-adult overweight and binge eating after adjustment for gender, body mass index, and age. Typical annual weight loss, which does not represent the most extreme weight changes, was only associated with being younger, obese, and the binge-eating factor. Although typical annual and lifetime weight changes were significantly correlated, the largest lifetime weight losses were not the result of an accumulation of many small losses but occurred almost only in subjects who also had one or more large single losses. Age comparisons demonstrated less major weight dissatisfaction and less disordered eating in the 60+ age group than the 20-year-old age group. Annual and total lifetime pounds lost were lower in the older age groups, implying diminished weight fluctuation and dieting. Also, older subjects reported less overweight in childhood and adolescence. We suggest that in both men and women, weight change is affected similarly by obesity, age, dissatisfaction/dieting, binge eating and pre-adult overweight although the problem is more severe in women.
Article
Research in the area of restrained eating has tended to treat dieters as a homogeneous group and has paid little attention to the psychological, behavioural, and body composition variability among these individuals. The purpose of the present study was to determine the degree of association between restrained eating and a number of salient variables, and to investigate whether the pattern of relationships differs between the sexes and between young and middle-aged adults. It was found that the correlates of restrained eating do not display a consistent profile across all groups of dieters. For women, restraint was associated with greater emotional reactivity, body dissatisfaction, body focus, and body mass index (BMI). For younger women, greater exercise participation was also a significant correlate. Among the men there were a number of differences between the two age groups. For young men, only body dissatisfaction, exercise level, and BMI were positively related to restraint. Among older men, however, emotional reactivity, exercise participation, percent body fat, and BMI were all influential factors. Results are discussed in the context of specific social influences on men and women to control weight and enhance body image. Findings also underscore the need to use multivariate procedures to better understand the phenomenon of dieting and the psychology of dieters.
Article
The present study was designed to examine whether the frequently found prolonged colour naming of food words in Stroop tasks in people who restrain their food intake is due to hyperattention to or avoidance of these food words. MacLeod's visual attention (or dot probe) paradigm (MacLeod et al., 1986) was used, as well as a word recognition task. Food, weight/shape and neutral words were presented. Fifty-nine women, classified as restrained or unrestrained eaters, participated in both tasks. The visual attention task revealed neither attention nor avoidance of food and weight/shape stimuli. In the recognition task, however, restrained subjects were found to need less time for recognizing food words than neutral words. For unrestrained eaters, the response times for food and neutral words were the same. The results in this study, may be explained by Wegner's Ironic Process Theory (Wegner, 1994). Wegner argues that, in order to avoid certain thought contents, an individual needs to attend to those contents. For the restrained eater this might mean that she first shifts attention towards the food words in the dot probe task in order to subsequently avoid them, which might explain the zero net effect. Indirect support for the idea that restrained eaters needed to attend the food words in order to avoid them, is found in the results of the recognition task: restrained subjects needed less time to recognize food stimuli than neutral stimuli. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
Article
The combined influence of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) was assessed on a measure of weight and body-image concerns in a group of 167 young women. Due to rather conflicting results in the existing literature, and based on a related body of research, we predicted that BMI (as an index of size) and WHR (as an index of shape) would operate interactively in accounting for the variance in the dependent variable. Our results confirmed this prediction. When body size was small, high WHR (i.e. an androidal fat pattern) was associated with greater weight and body-image concerns. When body size was large, however, low WHR (a gynoidal fat pattern) was associated with this variable. From these results, we conclude that curvaceousness only enhances body-image perceptions when body size is small. When body size is large, it tends to have the opposite effect. In addition, we found some support for the theory that psychosocial factors contribute to the abdominal accumulation of body fat. Extraversion—a personality characteristic associated with optimism and positive affectivity—was inversely related to WHR even after controlling for BMI, and partialling out the effects of physical-activity level.
Article
Presents an eating disorders continuum and describes groups on the continuum by highlighting differences among the groups on behavioral, cognitive-attitudinal, and self-esteem issues. The groups include normal eaters, weight-preoccupied persons, chronic dieters, purgers, subthreshold bulimics, and bulimics, defined according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III-Revised (DSM-III-R). The relationship of the continuum to the developmental course of eating disorders is discussed, and prevention, early intervention, and treatment programs for the various groups on the continuum are presented. Recommendations for future research on the continuum of eating disorders are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
This study tested the hypothesis that women whose fat is more distributed in the hips and buttocks would have greater body dissatifaction and disordered eating behavior than women with a more abdominal distribution of adipose tissue. The study also tested whether body dissatifaction and the validity of self-reported waist and hip measurements were related. The degree of weight preoccupation and body dissatifaction was determined in 77 women between the ages of 21 and 50. The validity of self-reported waist and hip measurements was assessed by comparing waist and hip circumferences measured by the subjects with circumferences obtained by a single trained expert. Women with the greatest distribution of their fat in the hips and buttocks, relative to the abdomen and waist, were the most eating disordered, and viewed being at the “right” weight as more central to their sense of self. No significant association was found between a subject's preoccupation with weight and the magnitude of error between the self-reported measurements and those obtained by the trained expert. Significant correlations were found between the subject- and expert-measured waist and hip circumferences (.94 and 0.88), as well as between the waist-to-hip circumference ratio (WHR) obtained from the subject and expert values (.87). The regression coefficient (a = 0.86) and the intercept (b = 0.11) for the equation relating the WHRs obtained from the subject and expert measurements also suggest that self-reported subject waist and hip circumferences produce valid estimates of the parameter WHR.
Article
The present study of high school sophmores assessed the prominence of weight concerns relative to other worries typical of adolescents. Subjects were 453 females and 355 males from a parochial school who indicated how much they worried about each of 15 items. Girls reported worrying most about looks, figure, weight, and popularity with and relationships with the opposite sex. Boys worried most about money, looks, and popularity and relationships with the opposite sex. Girls reported significantly greater worry than boys on nine of 15 items and scored significantly higher than boys on trait anxiety. Obese boys and girls reported worrying significantly more about weight and figure (physique) than did their non-obese peers, but being overweight was otherwise unrelated to trait anxiety or worry about other issues. The findings indicate that weight and figure are of primary concern to adolescent girls relative to other issues. Boys clearly were not weight-preoccupied but did share several of the principal worries reported by girls.
Article
The etiological complexity of the eating disorders has incited researchers to examine how personality characteristics and other variables operate jointly in the development of deviant eating patterns.Objective This study investigated the independent, interactive, and indirect prediction of dietary restraint by perfectionism and excessive commitment to exercise.Method Multiple regression analyses designed to test moderating and mediating models were conducted on a sample of female university students (n = 269).ResultsSeveral dimensions of perfectionism, as well as excessive commitment to exercise, significantly and independently predicted dietary restraint in these women. There was no evidence for an interaction effect. Mediation analyses suggested that for selected dimensions of perfectionism, the direct relationship between perfectionism and dietary restraint is partially explained by excessive commitment to exercise.DiscussionInterventions aimed at challenging perfectionistic standards in the context of dieting need to address not only one's self-standards, but one's perceptions of standards held by others. The mediating role of excessive exercise commitment pinpoints this variable as an alternative intervention target in the prevention of excessive dieting. © 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 29: 307–313, 2001.
Article
Objective Women entering college (N = 118) were longitudinally followed for 3 years with assessments of eating pathology (Restraint and Bulimia).Method Measures taken at Time 1 included timing of onset of puberty, Figure Dissatisfaction, Ineffectiveness, Public Self-Consciousness, and mood states (Profile of Mood States). Measures were evaluated as predictors of changes in Restraint and Bulimia scores across the three-year period.ResultsBoth Restraint (r = .69) and Bulimia (r = .50) were quite stable across the 3 years. Mean weight gain of 5.4 pounds (p <.001) was paralleled by an increase in “ideal weight” of 4.7 pounds. Hierarchical regressions controlling for Time 1 levels of eating disorder symptoms revealed that changes in Bulimia (R2 = .38, p <.0001) were related to the psychological measures and to Figure Dissatisfaction. Changes in Restraint (R2 = .61, p <.0001) were significantly related to Figure Dissatisfaction.DiscussionFindings are discussed in the context of the value of longitudinal designs in identifying risk factors. Dissatisfaction with one's figure seems to be consistently related to worsening eating pathology. © 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 30: 28–36, 2001.
Article
Objective Weight- and shape-related self-evaluation refers to the process whereby an individual determines her self-worth based on an evaluation of her body weight and shape. This is a hallmark feature of both anorexia and bulimia nervosa, as specified in the 4th ed. of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The purpose of this study was to further our understanding of weight-related self-evaluation in eating-disordered women.Method Eating-disordered patients, restrained eaters, and unrestrained eaters completed an experimenter-designed questionnaire that examines different dimensions of weight-related self-evaluation (i.e., the Multidimensional Weight-Related Self-Evaluation Inventory).ResultsResults revealed that weight-related self-evaluation is a feature shared, to some extent, by both eating-disordered patients and restrained eaters. However, eating-disordered patients extend weight-related self-evaluation to include more domains of self-esteem than did restrained eaters.DiscussionThese findings support a multidimensional approach to weight-related self-evaluation and further our understanding of the process of weight-related self-evaluation in eating-disordered patients. © 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 29: 328–335, 2001.
Article
This study examined the effects of gender-role orientation on aspects of body image satisfaction in a group of primarily Caucasian young women and men. It also examined whether neuroticism—a broad, higher-order dimension of personality—functioned additively or interactively with gender-role orientation in the prediction of body image. Similar to previous research, masculinity was related to positive body image in women. For men, results were in the opposite direction. Femininity, and not masculinity, was related to body satisfaction. Of particular interest were the findings that neuroticism interacted both with masculinity in women and femininity in men in predicting positive ratings of attractiveness. In both cases, the positive relationship between gender-role orientation and attractiveness only existed at low levels of neuroticism. As neuroticism increased, the relationship diminished; there was no relationship at all at high levels of neuroticism. Results are discussed in terms of the differential significance of gender-role orientation for body esteem in women and men, and with respect to the moderating influence of personality factors.
Article
This meta-analysis involved 35 studies examining eating disturbance and body dissatisfaction in white and non-white populations and the role of acculturation in the development of eating-related psychopathology. While the role of acculturation in predisposing non-whites to eating disorders remains to be determined, mean effect sizes indicate that whites report more eating disturbance than non-whites. Differences are greatest when studies compare black and white college samples on measures of subclinical eating pathology, like dietary restraint, ideal body shape, and body dissatisfaction. They are weakest when non-clinic populations and clinical forms of eating disturbance, like bulimia nervosa, are examined. These findings suggest that the current literature may be incorrect in its view that subclinical and clinical forms of eating disturbance represent the poles of a single continuum. In addition, they call into question the belief that SES influences the development of eating pathology.
Article
Research compared obese and average-weight children with regard to concerns about being or becoming overweight, history of dieting, concerns about the effects of eating food, and perceived discrepancy between real and ideal body image. Participants included 526 obese and average-weight elementary-age school children to whom questionnaires were administered. Gender (male/female), obesity status (obese/average-weight), and grade level (lower elementary/upper elementary) were considered. Obese children were significantly more likely to engage in dieting behaviors, to express concern about their weight, to restrain their eating, and to exhibit more dissatisfaction with their body image than average-weight children. Girls were more likely to exhibit these behaviors than were boys. These findings suggest the importance of studying the emergence of disordered eating habits in childhood.
Article
Two studies were conducted to determine the relative role played by overall body fat and body fat distribution as indicated by the measure of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in determining female perceived attractiveness and associated personality attributes. Contrary to popular belief, thin female figures were neither perceived most attractive nor assigned many desirable personality traits, except youthfulness. The measure of body fat distribution, the WHR, was found to be the critical variable associated with attractiveness. Normal weight female figures with low WHR were judged to be most attractive and were assigned many desirable qualities.
Article
Hypothesized that individual differences in eating behavior based on the distinction between obese and normal Ss could be demonstrated within a population of normal Ss classified as to the extent of restraint chronically exercised with respect to eating. Ss were 42 female college students. Restrained Ss resembled the obese behaviorally, and unrestrained Ss resembled normals. This demonstration was effected in the context of a test of the psychosomatic hypothesis of obesity. Results indicate that although some individuals may eat more when anxious, there is little empirical support for the notion that eating serves to reduce anxiety. An explanation for this apparent inconsistency is offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Dietary, activity, and body weight differences in high- and low-restrained eaters and the independent impact of dietary restraint on body weight change were evaluated in 287 adults (141 men, 146 women) followed over a 1-year period. Analyses of measures of energy intake, physical activity, and dietary restraint indicated that high-restrained eaters did not differ in physical activity compared to low-restrained eaters at baseline but were ingesting significantly fewer kcal/lb and a higher percentage of the diet from fat. Body mass was significantly greater in both high-restrained men and high-restrained women than in their low-restrained counterparts. Regression modeling procedures revealed that weight and body mass at baseline were related to weight gain in men. In contrast, weight gain in women was predicted by baseline weight and higher restraint scores. These results indicate that dietary restraint is associated with weight gain in women but not in men.
Article
Dieting is a common practice among adolescent girls. Recent research suggests that adolescent dieting may not be benign and that it is becoming more frequent in younger age groups. The present study investigated dieting motivation and the underlying attitudes to body weight and shape in two age groups. Eighty-four nine-year-old and 86 14-year-old girls from the same school completed assessments of dietary restraint, body esteem, body satisfaction and body figure preferences. The girls' body weight and height were also measured. The distribution of restraint scores revealed individuals from both age groups in every category of dieting motivation. Subjects in the upper and lower quartiles of the restraint distribution were identified and compared on the other measures. The highly restrained girls expressed low body esteem and discontent with their body build, weight and certain regions of their bodies. Furthermore, their 'ideal' body shape was significantly slimmer than their perceived current body shape, and slimmer even than that of the non-dieters. This pattern held for both the nine- and 14-year-olds, of whom half of each age group were of average or below average weight index for their age. The appearance of these dispositions and behaviours by the age of nine, or possibly earlier, may result in a marked increase in future clinical eating problems and disorders.
Article
Men and women differ when choosing the figure drawings that most resemble (a) their own current figures (CURRENT), (b) their ideal figures (IDEAL), and (c) the figure thought most attractive to the opposite sex (OPPOSITE) (Fallon & Rozin, 1985). In the present experiment, women with high Eating Attitude Test (EAT) scores, indicating abnormal eating patterns, choose differently from those with low scores. All women's IDEAL and OPPOSITE figures are thinner than their CURRENT figures, whereas men rate all three nearly identically. Only the high-scoring women choose an IDEAL figure thinner than their OPPOSITE. This suggests that whereas men are satisfied with their figures, women desire to be thinner than they think they are, and women with abnormal eating behaviors desire to be even thinner than what they think men find attractive.
Article
It is clear from the data available that weight loss of varying degrees can be produced by treatments now available. With jejuno-ileal bypass, the most risky, weight loss of 30% of initial body weight can be produced and maintained for extended periods of time. However, this is produced with significant potential side-effects. Weight loss averaging 10 kg has been associated with the use of fenfluramine, but this treatment illustrates the problem of palliation versus cure since when drug treatment was stopped, weight was regained. The most promising results have been those utilizing a combination of nutritional and behavioral approaches. With this technique, weight losses reducing overweight by 30% or more have been demonstrated to be effective for up to 4 years following initiation of treatment. It is thus possible to offer significant help to a major group of people with weight problems, using techniques currently available. Weight loss which is regained may carry significant added disadvantages and must be weighed against the effects of weight loss. Weight loss produces a reduction in hyperglycemia, blood pressure, and triglycerides, and may produce a reduction in cholesterol. These reductions in risk factors are beneficial. However, during weight regain, which occurs in a significant number of individuals, impairment in glucose tolerance, a rise in triglycerides, and a rise in blood pressure may more than offset the benefits of the weight reduction itself. In considering treatment, these problems must be borne in mind.
Article
A 30-item sentence completion blank (SFSC), in which most of the stems contain a self-reference (I, my, me, etc.) is described. Normative data are provided for 2,592 non-psychiatric subjects representing five different kinds of populations, and 273 psychiatric patients from nine different diagnostic groups. Reliability data are presented and the results of six validation studies are discussed. It is suggested that the SFSC, which yields six scores, may provide a useful index of egocentricity as a response orientation or style. The data are discussed in the context of “egocentric balance,” a postulate seemingly compatible with several theoretical positions.
Article
Interrelationships of female body fat distribution as measured by the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), overall body size, perceived attractiveness, youthfulness, health, and need to lose weight were investigated. Drawings showing thin females with high WHRs and heavier females with low WHRs were presented to college-age women with low and high scores on the Restrained Eating Scale (Herman & Polivy. [1980]. Obesity [pp. 208-225]. Philadelphia: Saunders) and men who ranked figures for various attributes. Female subjects, regardless of their eating style, as well as male subjects, judged heavier female target figures with low WHRs as more attractive and healthier than thinner figures with higher WHRs. The rankings for youthfulness and need to lose weight were not systematically affected by the size of the WHR. Female subjects perceived heavier female target figures with low WHR to represent ideal female figures. Female subjects with a restrained eating style felt their own body was not similar to idealized female figures and expressed unhappiness with their body shape; this was not true of unrestrained eaters. It is proposed that female attractiveness and ideal female shape may be more influenced by WHR than overall body size.
Article
In this study, data collected in 1989 in a random-digit dialing telephone survey of 60,590 adults in 38 states and the District of Columbia were analyzed. Approximately 38% of women and 24% of men reported that they were currently trying to lose weight. Methods reported were counting calories (24% of women, 14% of men), participating in organized weight loss programs (10%, 3%), taking special supplements (10%, 7%), taking diet pills (4%, 2%), and fasting for 24 hours or longer (5%, 5%). Among both sexes, only half of those trying to lose weight reported using the recommended method of caloric restriction combined with physical activity.
Article
Salivary and cognitive reactivity to a highly palatable food cue were examined in 19 women with bulimia nervosa, 19 restained eaters and 19 unrestrained eaters. Salivary reactivity at presentation of the palatable food varied significantly across the three groups but not baseline. Bulimic women displayed significantly less salivary reactivity than either restrained or unrestrained eaters. Bulimic women were depressed and self-reported markedly greater anxiety (SUDS) at all points during the procedure. SUDS were not significantly correlated with salivary reactivity. Depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory was significantly and inversely correlated with salivary reactivity. Potential cognitive and physiological explanations for decreased salivary reactivity in women with bulimia are discussed.
Article
Selective processing of appetitive cues was investigated among food-deprived subjects and restrained eaters using the modified Stroop. Thirty-two university students (25 females, 7 males) were randomly assigned to a 6-hr food deprivation (FD) or a no food deprivation (NFD) condition. Subjects were also divided into three restrained eating groups-high (HR), moderate (MR), and low (LR)-according to Restraint Scale scores. Subjects color named sets of food, alcohol, and leisure control words. Stroop color-naming latencies were submitted to 2 x 3 (Food Deprivation Condition x Word Type) and 3 x 3 (Restrained Eating Group x Word Type) repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Food deprivation failed to produce longer latencies for food or alcohol words relative to control words. However, HR status was associated with significantly longer latencies for both food and alcohol, relative to control, words. Chronic dietary restraint but not short-term food deprivation was associated with selective processing of appetitive cues. The results have implications for understanding food preoccupation and risk for alcohol abuse in restrained eaters.
Article
In the present study, it was hypothesized that restrained eating subjects will show an attentional bias for body shape and weight words during the automatic stage of information processing and not during the strategic or controlled stage. Thirteen high restrained and fifteen low restrained eaters participated in the experiment. Body shape and weight words as well as neutral words were presented both supraliminally and subliminally during a computerized Stroop task. The high restrained eaters did not show distortions in the processing of body shape and weight stimuli; neither an early automatic processing priority nor a pattern of strategic processing selectivity characterizes restrained eaters. The absence of cognitive distortions in the processing of body shape and weight information might point to a qualitative difference between normal restrained eaters and subjects with eating disorders of clinical severity.
Article
A familiar face can be recognized across many changes in the stimulus input. In this research, the many-to-one mapping of face stimuli to a single face memory is referred to as a face memory's 'attractor field'. According to the attractor field approach, a face memory will be activated by any stimuli falling within the boundaries of its attractor field. It was predicted that by virtue of its location in a multi-dimensional face space, the attractor field of an atypical face will be larger than the attractor field of a typical face. To test this prediction, subjects make likeness judgments to morphed faces that contained a 50/50 contribution from an atypical and a typical parent face. The main result of four experiments was that the morph face was judged to bear a stronger resemblance to the atypical face parent than the typical face parent. The computational basis of the atypicality bias was demonstrated in a neural network simulation where morph inputs of atypical and typical representations elicited stronger activation of atypical output units than of typical output units. Together, the behavioral and simulation evidence supports the view that the attractor fields of atypical faces span over a broader region of face space that the attractor fields of typical faces.
Article
The false recognition of distractor faces created from combinations of studied faces has been attributed to the creation of novel traces in memory, although familiarity accounts are also plausible. In 3 experiments, participants studied parent faces and then were tested with a distractor that was created by morphing 2 parents. These produced high false-alarm rates but no effects of a temporal separation manipulation. In a forced-choice version, participants chose the distractor over the parents. R. M. Nosofsky's (1986) Generalized Context Model and variants could account for some but not all aspects of the data. A new model, SimSample, can account for the effects of typicality and distinctiveness, but not for the morph false alarms unless explicit prototypes are included. The conclusions are consistent with an account of memory in which novel traces are created in memory; alternative explanations are also explored.
Article
The authors examined children's (N = 431, aged 7 years to 10 years 9 months) understanding of and reasons for dieting, to validate recent research indicating that perceived body-image dissatisfaction and restrictive eating behaviors occur in pre-adolescent populations. Scores on 2 sentence-completion tasks confirmed that the children do have a clear understanding of what dieting means in terms of intent and behavior (defined, in this study, as intentional restrictive eating behaviors). The results indicated that children as young as 7 years of age report dissatisfaction with their current body size and deliberately engage in restrictive eating behaviors. These findings provide validation of previous research and emphasize children's capacity to engage in deleterious health behaviors. Given that extreme dieting behaviors are harmful to a child's physical and psychological well-being, the authors concluded that research exploring (a) the genesis of these attitudes and behaviors and (b) their continuity or discontinuity across childhood is required.
Article
This study investigated the developmental onset of the Stroop interference effect for food and body shape words in 12- and 14-year-old females to determine whether dietary restraint and eating psychopathology influenced Stroop performance times. A Stroop task containing neutral, food, and body shape-related words was administered to 152 schoolgirls. Participants completed the restraint scale of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire and the Drive for Thinness (DFT) subscale of the Eating Disorders Inventory. Significant color-naming impairments were observed for food-related words in 12- and 14-year-olds, in 14-year-old restrained eaters, and in 12-year-old unrestrained eaters. There were no significant differences between restrained and unrestrained eaters in either age group. Participants scoring high on the DFT subscale showed significant impairments for food-related words, but did not differ significantly from those scoring low on the DFT. There were no significant impairments in color-naming body shape-related words in any subgroups. This study did not confirm a different developmental onset for the food and body shape Stroop interference effect. Consideration of dietary restraint did add clarity to previously observed food-related interference effects in both age groups. The results for high- and low-DFT participants do not support the use of the eating-related Stroop tests as an early objective indicator of eating psychopathology.