Peer pressure to “Fat talk”: Does audience type influence how women portray their body image?

doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2006.06.006

Eating Behaviors

Volume 8, Issue 2, April 2007, Pages 244-250

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2006.06.006 Get rights and content

Abstract

“Fat talk” describes women discussing their bodies disparagingly for impression management while interacting with one another. This study examined whether college females deliberately alter their self-reported body image according to characteristics of their prospective audience. This study was a mixed experimental design with four audience conditions (private, public, female audience, male audience) as the between-subjects factor and time across trials as the within-subjects factor using college females as participants (N = 100). Pre versus posttest changes on the Body Esteem Scale (BES) and the Body Weight Figure Assessment (BWFA) served as the dependent variables. It was hypothesized that body image would decrease to indicate self-derogation (fat talk) in the public audience and female audience conditions, whereas body image would increase in the male audience condition. These hypotheses were not supported using repeated measures ANOVA. Strengths and weaknesses of the study are discussed.

Section snippets

Participants

One hundred female college undergraduates recruited from the undergraduate, psychology research pool at a medium-sized southeastern university served as participants and received extra credit. The sample was predominantly non-Hispanic, Caucasian (96%), with an average age of 18 (range 17–22). This study adhered to all ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association (2002) and was approved by the university's Institutional Review Board on October 18, 2004.

Body esteem scale (BES)

The BES (Franzoi & Shields,

Results

A time (pre v. post) by condition (private, public, female audience, male audience) mixed-subjects design was used in this study with audience as the between-subjects variable, time as the within-subjects variable, and body image as the dependent variables. Contrary to prediction, analyses of the BES found no time by condition interaction, F (3, 96) = .378, p = .769, η_p² = .01. Furthermore, there were no significant effects for time, F (3, 96) = .000, p = .989, η_p² = .00. See Table 1for means and standard

Discussion

This study explored the impression management component outlined in Nichter and Vuckovic's (1994) five explanations of fat talk using an experimental research design. Nichter and Vuckovic proposed that women participate in fat talk as a means of adhering to indirect peer pressure where the norm is to speak negatively about one's body. Britton et al.'s research (in press) supported Nichter and Vuckovic's conclusions on middle school-aged females by demonstrating that both female and male college

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Fat Talk

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Cited by (8)

The relationships between fat talk, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness: Perceived stress as a moderator
2012, Body Image
Citation Excerpt :
Using an experimental paradigm in which 120 female college students were exposed to an ultra-thin confederate either complaining about how fat she felt or discussing a neutral topic, results indicated that exposure to fat talk reflecting social pressure to be thin resulted in increased body dissatisfaction (Stice et al., 2003). However, other research suggests that the relationship between fat talk and eating pathology is highly complex and often affected by additional factors such as social context, motivation for discussion, and the valence of commentary (Craig, Martz, & Bazzini, 2007; Salk & Engeln-Maddox, 2011; Stice et al., 2003; Tompkins, Martz, Rocheleau, & Bazzini, 2009; Tucker, Martz, Curtin, & Bazzini, 2007). For example, fat talk can be motivated by a desire to promote group affiliation among women (Nichter & Vuckovic, 1994); to gain reassurance and encouragement from peers (Salk & Engeln-Maddox, 2011); and to serve as a mode of social comparison (Bailey & Ricciardelli, 2010; Nichter, 2000; Tompkins et al., 2009).
Although body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness are commonplace in college-aged women, their relationships with fat talk and stress are understudied. This study examined (a) whether fat talk predicts body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness and (b) whether stress moderates these relationships. Results from self-report questionnaires completed by 121 female college students revealed that fat talk and perceived stress were significantly positively correlated with body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. Although fat talk was a significant independent predictor of body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness, stress moderated these relationships such that they were stronger at lower stress levels. Although contrary to predictions, these results are logical when means are considered. Results suggest that fat talk positively predicts body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in students with relatively lower stress levels, but does not for students under high stress because mean levels of these constructs are all already high.
Coping with "Bad Body Image Days": Strategies from first-year young adult college women
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Others cited that talking to friends or family was a more negative, attention-seeking behavior. It is probable that the negative “fat talk” occurring as a coping method may lead to further dissatisfaction for some of these women (Britton, Martz, Bazzini, Curtin, & LeaShomb, 2006; Craig, Martz, & Bazzini, 2007; Paquette & Raine, 2004). However, for those individuals who benefit from increased contact, learning healthy communication may be the key to coping effectively with negative body image.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how college women cope with body image concerns, a topic which has rarely been studied. Semi-structured interviews with first-year female college students (N = 30) revealed common strategies used for body image coping as well as their perceived effectiveness. While exercise was most frequently cited, other coping strategies included healthy eating, appearance changing, talking to friends or family, religion/spirituality, spending time alone, getting out and doing something, and self-acceptance. One of the emerging themes was participation in a cycle of eating as a result of body image concerns, and then feeling bad about themselves for eating. Participants identified that women in this cycle either adopt a self-defeatist attitude, believing they can do nothing about their appearance, or engage in self-improvement strategies, including goal setting. Far more women reported coping strategies that reflected avoidance or appearance fixing motives rather than acceptance.
Development and psychometric evaluation of a quantitative measure of "fat talk"
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Based on her anthropological research, Nichter (2000) concluded that it is normative for many American girls to engage in body self-disparagement in the form of “fat talk.” The purpose of the present two studies was to develop a quantitative measure of fat talk. A series of 17 scenarios were created in which “Naomi” is talking with a female friend(s) and there is an expression of fat talk. College women respondents rated the frequency with which they would behave in a similar way as the women in each scenario. A nine-item one-factor scale was determined through principal components analysis and its scores yielded evidence of internal consistency reliability, test–retest reliability over a five-week time period, construct validity, discriminant validity, and incremental validity in that it predicted unique variance in body shame and eating disorder symptoms above and beyond other measures of self-objectification.
Could obesity mediate psychopathology and suicidal ideation in adolescents? An Egyptian study
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An experimental investigation of the consequences and social functions of fat talk in friendship groups
2016, International Journal of Eating Disorders
Body Talk: Siblings’ Use of Positive and Negative Body Self-Disclosure and Associations with Sibling Relationship Quality and Body-Esteem
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Peer pressure to “Fat talk”: Does audience type influence how women portray their body image?

Abstract

Section snippets

Participants

Body esteem scale (BES)

Results

Discussion

Courtship in the personal columns: The influence of gender and sexual orientation

Sex Roles

The Body Esteem Scale: A multidimensional structure and sex differences in a college population

Journal of Personality Assessment

Body objectification and “fat talk”: Effects of emotion, motivation, and cognitive performance

Sex Roles

The effects of viewing same gender photographic models on body-esteem

Psychology of Women Quarterly

“Eating Lightly” and the self presentation of femininity

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Fat Talk