Gender role socialized behaviours and attitudes as predictors of eating pathology in an undergraduate female sample.

Gender role-socialization models posit that the higher prevalence rates of problematic eating patterns in girls and women are partly due to a socialization process whereby women are taught to view themselves in relation to others, to avoid confrontation, and to conform to societal ideals regarding beauty and thinness. In the current study, 236 undergraduate women completed measures of body dissatisfaction, externalized self-perceptions, weight status, perceived importance of their shape and weight, eating symptomatology, depression, and self-silencing behaviours and attitudes. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analyses were computed to investigate the relationships between variables representing body dissatisfaction, gender role socialization variables, depression, and eating disturbances. Externalized self-perceptions were correlated with body dissatisfaction (p \u3c .01) but not with perceived importance of body shape and weight ( p \u3e .05). Perceived importance of body shape and weight and externalized self-perceptions were found to predict maladaptive eating related cognitions when body dissatisfaction and body weight were held constant (p \u3c .001). Self-silencing behaviours and attitudes were found to predict bulimic dietary behaviours when body weight, body dissatisfaction, and perceived importance of body shape and weight were controlled (p \u3c .001). Depression did not mediate the relationship between perceived importance of body shape and weight and eating pathology. The current results are consistent with gender role socialization models of eating disorders, and suggest that eating disorder prevention and treatment models should facilitate a balanced view of personal attributes, and the acceptance and expression of feelings.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1998 .F71. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0594. Adviser: Cheryl Thomas. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1998