BODY OBJECTIFICATION, SOCIAL PRESSURE, AND DISORDERED EATING BEHAVIOR IN COLLEGE WOMEN: THE ROLE OF SORORITY MEMBERSHIP

Social pressure to conform to the thin ideal is believed to play a decisive role in the development of eating disorders. In this field study at a college with only sophomore rush, 99 sorority women, 80 nonsorority women past their first year, and 86 first-year women completed three subscales of the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 ( Garner, 1991 ), the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale ( McKinley & Hyde, 1996 ), and a measure of peer social pressure. It was hypothesized that women belonging to sororities as well as those who intended to join would score higher than nonsorority and first-year women with no intention to join on these measures of disordered eating, body objectification, and social pressure. It also was predicted that the amount of time spent living in a sorority house as well as degree of social pressure would correlate positively with higher scores on body objectification and disordered eating. Results supported nearly all hypotheses, suggesting both that sororities attract at-risk women and that living in a sorority house is associated with increased likelihood of disordered eating.     

IN DEFENSE OF THE BODY: THE EFFECT OF MORTALITY SALIENCE ON FEMALE BODY OBJECTIFICATION

Previous research has illustrated the negative psychological consequences of female body objectification. The present study explores how female body objectification may serve as a defense against unconscious existential fears. Drawing from terror management theory, an experiment was designed to test the potential functionality of female body objectification. Men and women were primed to think about either their own mortality or an aversive control topic, and levels of body objectification were then assessed for both self- and other (women)-objectification. Findings supported the hypothesis that priming mortality would increase both self- and other-objectification among women, and self-objectification among those who derive self-esteem from their body. Implications for this research are discussed.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEMININE GENDER ROLE STRESS, BODY IMAGE, AND EATING DISORDERS

The Feminine Gender Role Stress (FGRS) scale was used in two studies to determine whether eating disorders could be linked to the cognitive tendency among women to appraise specific situations as highly stressful because of rigid adherence to the traditional feminine gender role. Study 1 showed the FGRS scale could distinguish eating disorders from other psychiatric disorders in an inpatient setting and from normal college women. This suggests that women who have eating disorders report higher than usual levels of stress as a result of rigid adherence to the traditional feminine gender role. Study 2 looked at cardiovascular reactivity to a feminine (i.e., body image threat) and a control stressor and determined the FGRS scale could predict which women are threatened by feminine stressors. Results from these studies suggest feminine gender role stress may be the missing link between cultural values of femininity and vulnerability for eating disorders.     

SINGLE-SEX VERSUS MIXED-SEX CLASSES AND GENDER SCHEMATA IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Positive effects for women and girls of all-female schools have been proposed, although there is relatively little clear empirical support for these beneficial results. Much of the cited research is based on elite all-female institutions or on parochial schools. This study takes advantage of the change of a private, nonparochial school from all girls to both sexes. Longitudinal data from grades 2 through 12 were collected over the course of the academic year to study the results of this transition. Stereotyping declined with age and over time in both types of class-rooms. Girls in single-sex classrooms showed some tendency to be more stereotyped in their perceptions of mixed-sex classrooms than did the girls who were actually in that setting. Thus, none of the measures showed any significant increase over time in stereotyping among girls in mixed-sex classes. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

GENDER, EXCESSIVE BODY WEIGHT, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN ADULTHOOD

We examined gender differences in the association between body mass index (BMI) and psychological well-being. Regression analysis involving 3,251 adults indicated that gender moderated the BMI–psychological well-being link. In follow-up analyses, higher BMI predicted lower psychological well-being only among women. When participants were categorized into 5 BMI groups, women reported lower psychological well-being than men in the overweight and obese I groups, but no gender differences were observed in the more seriously obese or normal-weight groups. Also, among women, all 4 groups with higher-than-normal BMI had lower psychological well-being than normal-weight women; for men, no significant differences were found across the 5 groups. These findings are discussed in relation to research on stigma theory and gender-differentiated cultural norms regarding weight.     

GENDER, ROLE, AND POWER: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF SPEECH

It seems possible that gender differences may often be reducible to differences in role. The authors sought to explore the effects of role and gender on hostile and anxious communications. Role was manipulated through the use of the Melian Dialogues, a technique borrowed from community organization training that asks participants alternately to assume roles of superior and inferior power. Fourteen groups of college students, each with a four-member team of women and a four-member team of men, engaged in the Dialogues. Their communications, recorded and transcribed verbatim, were coded according to the Gotts-chalk-Gleser method of content analysis. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that while role had a highly significant effect (p <.0001) on the content of the communications, neither gender nor the order in which roles were assumed exerted a significant influence. Results were interpreted as a consequence of role justification.     

AGE AND GENDER IN RELATION TO BODY ATTITUDES

In order to examine whether the double standard of aging exists in self-perceptions of body attitudes, 144 men and women aged 20 to 80 years were tested. Variables that might moderate the relationship between body attitudes and aging, including self-esteem, health, masculinity, appearance orientation, and exercise participation were also examined. No age, gender, nor Age × Gender differences in body attitudes were found. Self-esteem, health, and masculinity were positively related to body attitudes, but these relationships did not vary according to age or gender. An Age × Gender × Exercise interaction indicated a positive relationship between age and body satisfaction among women exercisers but a negative relationship among women nonexercisers. Finally, appearance orientation was unrelated to body attitudes among all participants. The results of this study do not support the double standard of aging in self-perceptions but do suggest the similarity and importance of body attitudes across the adult life span.     

THE RELATIONSHIP OF GENDER AND ETHNICITY TO SELF-SILENCING AND DEPRESSION AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

This study expands on the initial work with the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS; Jack, 1991) by presenting data using a more diverse, nonclinical sample. Included were both men and women ( n = 604) who were African American, Asian, Caucasian, and Hispanic. It was expected that women would be more self-silencing than men, and that there would be ethnic differences. There were three principal findings: (a) men were more self-silencing than were women on the STSS; (b) there was a main effect for ethnicity on the STSS, with Asians expressing the highest levels of self-silencing; and (c) there was a positive correlation between self-silencing and depression for all ethnic/gender groups.     

SEX DIFFERENCES IN CONFORMITY: STATUS AND GENDER ROLE INTERPRETATIONS

The experiment examines status and gender role explanations of the tendency for women to conform more than men in group pressure settings. Subjects believed they were assigned to groups containing two males and two females in addition to themselves and received these other group members' opinions, which were represented as deviating from the opinions that subjects had given earlier. Subjects then gave their opinions with the other group members either having or not having surveillance over these opinions. In addition, subjects were required to form impressions of each other's likability or expertise. The findings indicate that subjects' sex and age affected the extent of their conformity. Among older (19 years and older) subjects, females conformed more with surveillance than without it, whereas surveillance did not affect males' conformity. Among younger (under 19 years) subjects, surveillance had no effects. Analysis of sex differences revealed that older females were significantly more conforming than older males when under surveillance as well as when subjects formed impressions of one another's likability. Among younger subjects, there were no sex differences. These findings are discussed in terms of the theories that (a) both sex and age function as status characteristics and (b) gender roles determine conformity.     

HOW INVESTMENT IN GENDER IDEALS AFFECTS WELL-BEING: THE ROLE OF EXTERNAL CONTINGENCIES OF SELF-WORTH

The present study examined the relationship between investment in gender ideals and well-being and the role of external contingencies of self-worth in a longitudinal survey of 677 college freshmen. We propose a model of how investment in gender ideals affects external contingencies and the consequences for self-esteem, depression, and symptoms of disordered eating. Specifically, we find that the negative relationship between investment in gender ideals and well-being is mediated through externally contingent self-worth. The model showed a good fit for the overall sample. Comparative model testing revealed a good fit for men and women as well as White Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans.     

羞耻易感性差异及对羞耻的应付

研究目的是了解羞耻感对应付的影响。100名大专一年级学生根据主试呈现的9个故事情境,评定自己在其中体验到的羞耻的强烈程度,从中选择了5个可以较好的激发被试羞耻情绪的典型羞耻事件,考察被试在其中的应付方式,并比较了高、低羞耻组被试在应付方法使用上的差异。研究结果显示：大学生面临羞耻事件时,倾向于采用接受事件结果、直接面对问题和让时间冲淡一切的应对方法,较少使用否认和逃避的方法。羞耻易感性较高的个体较之羞耻易感性低的个体更可能使用回避、隐藏感情、祈祷和等待的应付方法;羞耻易感性低的个体较之羞耻易感性高的个体更可能使用寻求社会支持的方法。进一步根据羞耻的本质和其现象学的特点,解释了高、低羞耻组在应付方式上的这些差异     

乳头体和隔区在大鼠条件性味觉痕迹的形成和保存中的作用

本工作是在前一工作的基础上,进一步研究分别电损毁有关回路的乳头体、隔区,对以糖精水为条件刺激。氯化锂腹腔注射引起中毒作为非条件刺激的条件性糖精厌恶痕迹的形成和保存的影响。结果表明,无论是损毁乳头体,或者隔区,对条件性糖精厌恶痕迹的形成和保存均无影响。说明在本实验条件下,这种条件性味觉痕迹的形成与保存,不依赖边缘系统的乳头体、海马、隔区这些回路的参与,这就进一步说明味觉信号的记忆确有其不同于视、听觉信号的记忆的机制的。     

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE STUDY OF GENDER ROLE ATTITUDES

This article presents a new application of cluster analytic methodology to the study of gender role attitudes. We developed a preliminary typology of men's profiles of masculinity ideology in a sample of 217 upper-level undergraduates stratified across all academic divisions at a large, public university in the midwest. Based on cluster analyses of four dimensions of masculinity ideology, five patterns of endorsement were identified: Moderately Traditional, High Status/Low Violence, Nontraditional, High Violence/Moderately Traditional, and Traditional. Preliminary validity of this cluster solution was demonstrated by significant differences by cluster in gender role egalitarianism.     

A MEDIATIONAL MODEL LINKING SELF-OBJECTIFICATION, BODY SHAME, AND DISORDERED EATING

This study tests a mediational model of disordered eating derived from objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). The model proposes that the emotion of body shame mediates the relationship between self-objectification and disordered eating. Two samples of undergraduate women ( n = 93, n = 111) completed self-report questionnaires assessing self-objectification, body shame, anorexic and bulimic symptoms, and dietary restraint. Findings in both samples supported the mediational model. Additionally, a direct relationship between self-objectification and disordered eating was also observed. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

A THEORY OF PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY: THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SELF-CONCEPT, GENDER, SEX ROLE STEREOTYPES, AND WORK-EMERGENT TRAITS

A theoretical framework is presented that focuses on the division of labor by gender to account for both sex role stereotypes and the correspondence between these stereotypes and the self-concepts of women and men. According to this framework, the self-images of adults are largely constituted by attributes generated by their productive activity. These attributes, referred to as work-emergent traits, are consequences of working within particular social and physical conditions of production because they help individuals to perform work tasks and to regulate their emotional responses to the Stressors attendant upon their work roles. Because of sexual segregation in the work force, certain traits have been generalized to all women and to all men, appearing as sex role stereotypes. Although the sexual division of labor is the root cause of stereotypical beliefs regarding the attributes of women and men, the beliefs themselves also sustain the division of labor. Suggestive pilot data, which provide initial substantiation for this theoretical perspective, are briefly discussed.     

DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF THE INTERPERSONAL SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION SCALE

This study reports on the development and psychometric evaluation of the Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale (ISOS). Data from 576 college women were collected in three studies. Exploratory factor analysis uncovered two factors: Body Evaluation and Unwanted Explicit Sexual Advances; confirmatory factor analysis supported this factor structure. ISOS scores were internally consistent and stable over a 3-week period. Supporting its construct validity, ISOS scores were (a) strongly related to sexist degradation; (b) slightly to moderately related to other sexist events, self-objectification (i.e., body surveillance and internalization of the thin-ideal), and body shame; and (c) unrelated to socially desirable responding. The relationship between ISOS scores and body shame was fully mediated by self-objectification, providing additional evidence for its construct validity. Furthermore, the ISOS garnered incremental validity, as it predicted self-objectification above and beyond the variance accounted for by sexist events.