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Multidimensional Assessment of Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating in Korean and US College Women: A Comparative Study

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Abstract

Body dissatisfaction was studied in 139 Korean and 102 US college women. Because tumultuous social change has produced marked conflicts between traditional Confucian values and a modern industrial society in which women hold increasing social, political, and economic power, it was hypothesized that Korean college women would have greater body dissatisfaction and more behaviors associated with disordered eating than US college women. As hypothesized, when body size (BMI) was controlled the Korean sample exhibited greater body dissatisfaction than the US sample as measured by the discrepancy between actual and ideal BMI, discrepancies between the participants’ bodies and three ideal bodies on the Figural Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorenson, & Schulsinger, The genetics of neurological and psychiatric disorders, Raven Press, New York, pp. 115–120, 1983), all three measures from the Body Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, Journal of Personality Assessment, 48:173–178, 1984), and all three measures from the Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (Mendelson, Mendelson, & White, Concordia University Research Bulletin, 16:1–12, 1997). Although the Korean sample had more behaviors characteristic of disordered eating on the Eating Disorders Inventory (Garner, Olmstead, & Polivy, International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2:15–31, 1983) Bulimia Scale, no differences were found between samples on scores on the Drive for Thinness Scale.

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Notes

  1. Although Confucianism is typically associated with a strong patriarchy and restricted roles and privileges for women, not all scholars agree that this is an unavoidable consequence of Confucian thought. For an alternative view of gender differences in the Confucian tradition, see Yee (2003).

  2. In the Korean culture infants are considered to be 1 year of age at birth. To allow for comparison with ages reported by the US sample, the ages of the Korean sample were converted to the Western convention for reporting age by subtracting 1 year from the age reported by the Korean participants.

  3. The Korean and US sample also differed in age. However, no significant correlations were found between age and any of the other variables in the study. As a consequence, corrections for age differences were not necessary.

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  1. Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies, University of Delaware, 304 Alison Hall West, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Jaehee Jung

  2. Millikin University, Decatur, IL, USA

    Gordon B. Forbes

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  1. Jaehee Jung
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Correspondence to Jaehee Jung.

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The authors thank Yoon Kim for her assistance.

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Jung, J., Forbes, G.B. Multidimensional Assessment of Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating in Korean and US College Women: A Comparative Study. Sex Roles 55, 39–50 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9058-3

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