Double standards in body evaluation? How identifying with a body stimulus influences ratings in women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

We presentedn = 34 women with anorexia nervosa,n = 31 women with bulimia nervosa, andn = 114 healthy controls with pictures of thin, average‐weight, overweight, athletic, and hypermuscular bodies. Identity was manipulated by showing each body once with the participant's own face and once with the face of another woman. Participants were instructed to report their emotional stat e according to valence and arousal and to rate body attractiveness, body fat, and muscle mass.ResultsWomen with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa displayed greater self ‐deprecating double standards in body fat rating than did women without ED, as quantified by the difference between the ratings of the same body with one's own versus another woman's face. Double standards reflected in valence, arousal and attractiveness ratings were significantly more pronounced in women with anorexia nervosa than in women without ED.DiscussionThe double standards found may be due to an activation of dysfunctional self ‐related body schemata, which distort body evaluation depending on identity. Double standards related to body fat were characteristic for women with ED, but not for women without ED.
Source: International Journal of Eating Disorders - Category: Eating Disorders & Weight Management Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research