An empirical investigation of gender, sexual attitudes, weight bias and body image

This thesis will fill gaps in research exploring gender, weight bias, and body image. It investigates the potential consequences of having a negative body image (such as its association with sexual functioning), and how body image and attraction to different body types differ depending on gender and feminist identification. It also investigates how contact with overweight people is related to weight bias. Traditionally, most body image research has focused on women, given that women typically report worse body image than men, and face substantive societal pressure to look a certain way (Feingold & Mazzella, 1998). However, increasingly research is demonstrating that men also feel appearance-related societal pressure and suffer from marked body image issues (Davison & McCabe, 2005). Consequently, in this thesis both female and male perspectives are involved throughout. In Chapters 1 and 3 I describe the literature that informed my research. Specifically, in Chapter 1 I discuss research on body image, including outlining which factors predict having a negative body image, what the consequences of having a poor body image are, and gender differences associated with body image. In Chapter 3, I describe research on anti-fat prejudice, including interventions to reduce negative attitudes towards those who are overweight. In Chapter 2, I investigate how thinking negatively about one’s body is associated with sexual problems. Female and male participants (N=519) completed questionnaires examining various aspects of sexual problems, as well as drive for thinness and drive for muscularity. Results indicated that for men as well as women, drive for thinness rather than drive for muscularity consistently predicted sexual dysfunction. This study provides the first evidence that drive for thinness can be associated with negative sexual experiences for men as well as women. In Chapter 4 I shift my focus to examine which factors might predict people finding a range of different body types attractive, and conversely, what might predict the extent to which people impose the thin ideal onto others. Heterosexual female and male participants (N=359) rated how attractive they found a variety of male and female figures. Participants also completed a feminist identity questionnaire. Results demonstrated that men who identified as feminists were more likely to report being attracted to a larger female figure, while feminist identification was unrelated to what size figure women found attractive. In line with past research, women rated the “most attractive” female figure as being thinner than that preferred by men. This study demonstrates that male feminism may have an indirect positive effect on women by relaxing men’s standards for female beauty. 1 In the interest of brevity, the word ‘overweight’ is used to encompass both overweight and obese people An empirical investigation of gender, sexual attitudes, weight bias and body image 3 In Chapter 5 I looked at how anti-fat prejudice might be associated with the positive and negative contact we have with overweight people. Participants (N=1176) completed questionnaires measuring anti-fat attitudes, drive for thinness, fat talk and body checking behaviours. Results demonstrated that positive contact was associated with reduced negative attitudes towards overweight people, while negative contact was associated with increased anti-fat attitudes. For nonoverweight participants, any contact with overweight people whether positive or negative was predictive of increased body checking behaviours and fat talk, while negative contact predicted increased drive for thinness. However, for overweight participants, positive contact was protective, predicting decreased drive for thinness and body checking behaviours. These results indicate that contact with overweight people is inherently tied to our attitudes towards them, as well as our relationships with our own bodies. The body of the empirical work as a whole, limitations, implications, and future directions for research are discussed in Chapter 6. An empirical investigation of gender, sexual attitudes, weight bias and body image 4 DECLARATION BY AUTHOR This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. An empirical investigation of gender, sexual attitudes, weight bias and body image 5 PUBLICATIONS DURING CANDIDATURE Alperin, A. , Hornsey, M.J., Hayward, L.E. , Diedrichs, P.E. , & Barlow, F.K. (2014). Applying the contact hypothesis to anti-fat attitudes: Contact with overweight people is related to how we interact with our bodies and those of others. Social Science and Medicine, 123, 3744. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed. 2014.10. 051 PUBLICATIONS INCLUDED IN THIS THESIS Alperin, A. , Hornsey, M.J., Hayward, L.E. , Diedrichs, P.E. , & Barlow, F.K. (2014). Applying the contact hypothesis to anti-fat attitudes: Contact with overweight people is related to how we interact with our bodies and those of others. Social Science and Medicine, 123, 37-44. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed. 2014.10. 051 Contributor Statement of contribution Author 1 (Candidate) Designed the experiment (70%) Data collection (100%) Conducted data analysis (70%) Wrote and edited the paper (60%) Author 2 Edited the paper (10%) Author 3 Conducted data analysis (20%) Edited the paper (10%) Author 4 Edited the paper (10%) Author 5 Designed the experiment (30%) Conducted data analysis (10%) Edited the paper (20%) An empirical investigation of gender, sexual attitudes, weight bias and body image 6 CONTRIBUTIONS BY OTHERS TO THE THESIS My primary advisor, Dr. Fiona Barlow, provided guidance on theory, study design, and data analysis. My secondary advisor, Professor Matthew Hornsey, assisted on theory and study design, and edited my manuscripts. Both Dr. Barlow and Professor Hornsey also edited my thesis and associated manuscripts. My collaborator from The University of the West of England, Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs, assisted with theorising and editing of my manuscript in Chapter 5. My lab group assisted with data collection for the manuscript in Chapter 4, and one of my follow RHD students, Michael Thai, helped with the design and creation the associated figures in Chapter 4. Another lab group member, Lydia Hayward, edited the paper presented in Chapter 5 and helped me run data analysis. STATEMENT OF PARTS OF THE THESIS SUBMITTED TO QUALIFY FOR THE AWARD OF ANOTHER DEGREE