Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Diana Rancourt, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Joseph Vandello, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Edelyn Verona, Ph.D.

Keywords

Appearance Ideal Internalization, Curvy Ideal, Eating Pathology, Muscular Ideal, Thin Ideal

Abstract

Research examining appearance ideal internalization has primarily focused on the thin ideal, neglecting the growing importance of alternative appearance ideals (e.g., curvy, muscular). Qualitatively, women report that these ideals are not internalized in isolation, but instead, are internalized simultaneously. Importantly, the simultaneous internalization of appearance ideals may enhance the negative effects of appearance ideal internalization. The current study tested whether simultaneously internalizing diverse appearance ideals (i.e., thin, curvy, muscular) was associated with increased body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors in a predominantly White (Study 1; N= 260) and racially/ethnically diverse (Study 2; N=264) samples of college-aged women. Participants reported the degree to which they internalized the thin, curvy, and muscular ideals and reported body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors. Overall, the interactive effects of appearance ideal internalizations were not supported across both samples. Thin and curvy ideal internalization were consistently independently associated with the most disordered eating behaviors. In general, muscular ideal internalization was not associated with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Future research should continue to investigate the association between alternative appearance ideals to extend our understanding of how different appearance ideals influence risk for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among women

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