Vartanian and Hayward chapter

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Body dissatisfaction: negative thoughts and feeling that people have about their body weight, shape, size and overall appearance

Body dissatisfaction is the most robust risk factor for the development and maintenance of eating disorders

Problem for a range of populations

Explaining the occurrence of body dissatisfaction:

Tripartite Influence Model: pressure from the media, parents and peers all contribute

Internalisation: refers to the extent to which individuals take on society's attractiveness standards as personally meaningful beliefs, that is, as goals that they should strive to achieve

Appearance-based social comparisons occur when individuals compare their appearance to that of another person

Upward appearance comparisons: comparisons to someone who is more attractive than one is (these are associated with greater body dissatisfaction)

Regardless of the direction of the comparison it still promotes body dissatisfaction

Sociocultural models

Self-concept clarity -predictor of internalisation, social-comparison tendency, and body dissatisfaction

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Theoretical and empirical links between identity disturbance and body image/ eating disorders

Bruch 1974: theorised that they may compensate for a lack of clear ID by turning to weight as a viable source of self-definition, engaging in extreme eating behaviours in an attempt to gain control over their weight

Without providing an adequate ID replacement for their eating disorder, therapeutic interventions may fail patients

There is a lack of empirical evidence for the link between disordered eating and identity issues

Most research has focused on self esteem

Individuals with eating disorders display greater ID confusion and instability than controls

The link with ID confusion is not surprising when you look at the age that eating disorders typically occur (adolescence and puberty)

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What is currently known about the relevance of self-concept clarity to body dissatisfaction (the empirical evidence)

Self-Concept Clarity Scale; Campbell et al., 1996

Lower self-concept clarity associated with great body dissatisfaction

Individuals with more self concept may be more motivated to compare themselves to others in an attempt to understand their place in society

Lower self-concept clarity was associated with greater anxiety following exposure to idealised media images

Social comparisons and internalisation are important for explaining the connection between self concept clarity and body dissatisfaction

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Potential antecedents and consequences (extending the model -the bigger picture)

Factors that predict an individual's level of self-concept clarity

Quality of early life experiences

-poor early life experiences (such as sex abuse and poor family environment) may result in individual having lower levels of interpersonal resources (including self-esteem and personal growth initiative)

-early adversity associated with lower self-concept clarity

-early adversity indirectly predicted body dissatisfaction via self-concept clarity and internalisation

-HOWEVER tentative conclusion given the cross sectional nature of the available data

Sociocultural influences

-Tripartite Influence Model: pressures from parents, peers, and the media play role

-reason that those low in self-concept clarity AND experience sociocultural pressures are most likely to internalise societal standards

-in the absence of sociocultural pressures those with low self concept clarity may face difficulties in other areas

Disordered eating

-eating disorder rates have increased in those girls aged between 15 and 19 over past few decades

-high levels of comorbidity with other mental health disorders

-link between self-concept clarity and disordered eating

-Bulimia sub scale of the Eating Disorder Inventory

-no studies have tested whether the association between self-concept clarity and disordered eating is mediated by body dissatisfaction

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Suggestions for future research