Body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, fashion magazines, and clothes: A cross-cultural comparison between Australian and Italian young women

While a great deal of research has investigated the body image concerns of women in Western English-speaking countries, there has been relatively little research attention paid to non-English-speaking countries. The present study aimed to investigate body dissatisfaction and disordered eating across...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of psychology 2005-10, Vol.40 (5), p.293-302
Main Authors: Tiggemann, Marika, Verri, Annapia, Scaravaggi, Sabrina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Body image
Body weight
Comparative analysis
Crosscultural aspects
Cultural differences
Dietetics
Eating disorders
Females
Italy
Postsecondary education
Questionnaires
Social attitudes
Thinness
Undergraduate students
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Summary:While a great deal of research has investigated the body image concerns of women in Western English-speaking countries, there has been relatively little research attention paid to non-English-speaking countries. The present study aimed to investigate body dissatisfaction and disordered eating across similarly constituted samples from two different cultures, Australia and Italy. Australia and Italy are similar in many ways, including frequent and obvious portrayals of thin media ideals for women, but represent very different cultures with respect to language and the roles of the family, meals, and fashion. Questionnaires were developed to assess the internalisation of thin ideals, fashion magazine exposure, and the importance of clothes, in addition to containing measures of body dissatisfaction, dieting, and disordered eating symptomatology. Factor analysis of the clothing measure produced two clear factors: the personal importance of clothes, and the social importance of clothes. The questionnaires were completed by 140 Australian and 95 Italian female university students of psychology or the humanities. The cross-cultural comparison of relationships between variables may contribute to a greater understanding of the genesis of body image concerns across cultures. [Author abstract]
ISSN:0020-7594
1464-066X
DOI:10.1080/00207590444000311