Elsevier

Appetite

Volume 52, Issue 1, February 2009, Pages 217-221
Appetite

Research report
“Thinspiration” vs. “fear of fat”. Using prototypes to predict frequent weight-loss dieting in females

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2008.09.019Get rights and content

Abstract

This study examined whether frequent weight-loss dieting in females is predominantly a manifestation of being inspired to approach the cultural aesthetic thinness standard, or predominantly of a fear to avoid becoming over-fat. Female volunteers completed questionnaires concerning their perceptions of the prototypical over-fat and thin female, their dieting status and demographic data. Logistic regression analysis indicated that with increasing perceived similarity to the over-fat prototype, the more unfavourable this prototype was perceived to be, the greater the likelihood of engaging in frequent weight-loss dieting. However, similarity to, and the favourability of, the thin prototype did not predict frequent weight-loss dieting. These results suggest that frequent weight-loss dieting is primarily motivated by a desire to avoid an unfavourable over-fat identity, rather than by a desire to acquire the favourable thin identity. The potential consequences for future research and therapeutic interventions are discussed.

Introduction

A wealth of research suggests that a significant number of females in western society deliberately restrict their food intake for the purpose of weight loss [weight-loss dieting; WLD] (Brugman et al., 1997, Forman-Hoffman, 2004; Kenardy, Brown, & Vogt, 2001; McVey, Tweed, & Blackmore, 2004; Waaddegaard & Peterson, 2002). Unfortunately, frequent WLD has been implicated in the development of eating pathology and of impaired psychological functioning in general (Ackard, Croll, & Kearney-Cook, 2002; Cachelin & Regan, 2006; Polivy & Herman, 2002). Yet despite these relationships it is unclear as to what primarily energises and directs frequent WLD (Levitt, 2003; Vartanian, Herman, & Polivy, 2006). On the one hand, frequent WLD could be said to be primarily a manifestation of “thinspiration”, whereby females are dieting because they are inspired to approach the extreme thinness of the cultural aesthetic ideal (Thompson & Stice, 2001). On the other hand, frequent WLD could also be said to be primarily a manifestation of a “fear of fat”, whereby females are attempting to avoid the over-fat stigma. According to Levitt (2003) recognising whether females are mainly engaging in WLD to approach thinness, or avoid over-fatness, may be central to the successful treatment and prevention of eating pathology. With this in mind our aim is, therefore, to disentangle the influence of “thinspiration” and “fear of fat” on frequent WLD by examining the relative impact of the prototypical thin and over-fat female.

Both empirical and theoretical work within the body image literature suggests that a female's motivation to engage in WLD goes beyond physical aesthetics (Bordo, 1993). In this regard contemporary western culture also associates positive character attributes with thinness and negative character attributes with being over-fat (e.g., Brownell, 1991, Crandall, 1994). Thus WLD can, more precisely, be said to be primarily a manifestation of a desire to approach an idealised thin identity, or primarily of a desire to avoid acquiring a stigmatised over-fat identity. Since peers, family, and especially the media, persistently promote these identities we reason, like others, that most females, to a greater or lesser extent, have internalised these identities from an early age (Cramer & Steinwert, 1998). However, we would like to extend this reasoning. Specifically, we propose that females cognitively represent the thin and over-fat identities as prototypical images which function as reference points to guide WLD behaviour (Gibbons & Gerrard, 1997). Research has found that a wide variety of distinct prototypical images influence behaviour: the smoker and non-smoker; the exerciser and non-exerciser; those who engage in safe and unsafe sexual behaviour; and those who engage in drunk driving (Blanton et al., 2001; Gibbons and Gerrard, 1995, Gibbons and Gerrard, 1997; Gibbons, Gerrard, & Boney-McCoy, 1995; Oulette, Hessling, & Gibbons, 2005). Given the intensity with which messages about the thin and over-fat identities are communicated in western culture, we think it is reasonable to assume that females have also developed distinct prototypical images of the thin and over-fat female (Brownell, Puhl, Schwartz, & Rudd, 2005; Tiggemann, 2002).

Prototypes are thought to influence behaviour through a social comparison process (Gibbons & Gerrard, 1997). Therefore when females think about engaging in WLD they should first imagine either a thin or over-fat prototype to compare with. The motivational impact of this comparison has been shown to be a function of the independent and interactive effects of two categories of prototype perception: the favourability of the prototype and self-prototype similarity (Gibbons and Gerrard, 1995, Gibbons and Gerrard, 1997). Since approach and avoidance motivation differs as a function of valence, we assume that the thin prototype may serve as a favourable, and inspirational, comparison target that a female wants to approach, and the over-fat prototype as an unfavourable, and fear-evoking comparison target that a female wants to avoid (Carver & Scheier, 1998). Following on from this, and because people continually move toward approach goals and away from avoidance goals, the favourability of the thin and the over-fat prototype should both contribute to the frequency of WLD (Rivis, Sheeran, & Armitage, 2006). That is, the more favourable the thin prototype, and the more unfavourable the over-fat prototype, are perceived to be, the more likely a female will engage in frequent WLD. However, some recent research suggests that eating disorder symptomatology is predominantly an avoidance oriented regulatory process (Bellew, Gilbert, Mills, McEwan, & Gale, 2006; Mussap, 2007). As a consequence we expect a bias in the contribution of prototype favourability to frequent WLD, to the extent that the unfavourable over-fat prototype will be a better predictor of frequent WLD than the favourable thin prototype.

For Gibbons and Gerrard, 1995, Gibbons and Gerrard, 1997 it is the interaction between self-prototype similarity and prototype favourability that is most strongly related to health intentions and behaviour. Self-prototype similarity is thought to influence motivation by raising expectations about experiencing an equivalent fate in the future (Buunk & Ybema, 1997; Gibbons & Gerrard, 1997). With increasing favourability, therefore, the more similar to the thin prototype a female perceives herself to be, the more inspired she should feel, and thus the more likely she is to be a frequent dieter. Conversely with decreasing favourability, the more similar a female perceives herself to be to the over-fat prototype, the more fear she should experience and, therefore, the greater the likelihood of her engaging in frequent WLD. However, because we assume that frequent WLD is predominantly a manifestation of avoidance motivation, we also expect that the interaction between favourability and similarity perceptions of the over-fat prototype will be a better predictor of frequent WLD.

To summarise, we propose that while perceptions of both the prototypical thin and over-fat female may direct and energise frequent WLD, such behaviour is more about avoiding association with the unfavourable over-fat prototype than with approaching the favourable thin prototype.

Section snippets

Participants

A total of 134 female members of a local health club volunteered to take part in this research which was part of a larger study on female WLD and exercise behaviour. Their mean age was 29.19 years (S.D. = 11.77). Body mass index (BMI) ranged from 16.4 to 30.61 (mean = 22.16, S.D. = 3.00).

Prototype perception

Prototype favourability was assessed on seven adjective descriptors that were scored using five-point semantic differentials with anchors of irresponsible/responsible, unreliable/reliable, selfish/unselfish,

Results

To facilitate our statistical analyses we followed Canpolat, Orsel, Akdemir, and Ozbay (2005) by collapsing the WLD status scale into three groups: “never dieters”, “sometimes dieters” and “frequent dieters”. As a consequence “triers” and “ex-dieters” were incorporated into the sometimes dieters group, and the “often” and “always” dieters were incorporated into the frequent dieters group. We then conducted two, mixed two-way ANOVAs in order to examine the favourability and similarity

Discussion

At present it is unclear whether females engage in frequent WLD as primarily an attempt to approach a thin identity, or as primarily an attempt to avoid an over-fat identity. This study, using images of the prototypical thin and over-fat woman, attempted to resolve this issue. We reasoned that while perceptions of both the thin and the over-fat prototype would contribute to the frequency of WLD, frequent WLD would be predominantly energised and directed by perceptions of the over-fat prototype.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Tim Fawcett, Karlijn Massar and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on this paper.

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