Cross-cultural explanations of body image disturbance in western cultural samples

• Published in: The International journal of eating disorders 2000-09, Vol.28 (2), p.165-172
• Main Authors: Mautner, Raeleen D., Owen, Steven V., Furnham, Adrian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Attitude towards mental illness; Biological and medical sciences; Body Image; body image disturbance; body mass; Body Mass Index; College students; Cross cultural studies; Cultural Characteristics; Culture; Eating disorders; Female; Figure Rating Scale; Humans; Medical sciences; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Puberty; Self Concept; Self image; Social Conditions; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Women
• ISSN: 0276-3478; 1098-108X
• DOI: 10.1002/1098-108X(200009)28:2<165::AID-EAT5>3.0.CO;2-G

Objective We replicated and extended the findings of S. M. Stormer and J. K. Thompson (1996), by comparing the relationships among body image disturbance (BID) and teasing history, age of pubertal onset, societal pressures to be thin, and appearance comparison, across three Western cultures. Methods College females from the United States, Italy, and England completed several BID measures, as well as measures of the four predictors. Body mass levels and self‐esteem, two known correlates of BID, were also examined. Data were analyzed using first standard, then hierarchical regression procedures. Results This investigation essentially found no cultural differences in the relationships among BID and its correlates for six of the seven criteria (BID) measures. Only one of the measures, the Figure Rating Scale (FRS), distinguished across groups. Discussion A lack of true cultural differences, or general similarities among university students, might explain these results. Nevertheless, these findings support the use of a Western cross‐cultural research model. © 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 28: 165–172, 2000.