Attention to fat- and thin-related words in body-satisfied and body-dissatisfied women before and after thin model priming

作者:Tobin Leah N*; Sears Christopher R; Zumbusch Alicia S; von Ranson Kristin M
来源:PLos One, 2018, 13(2): e0192914.
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0192914

摘要

Understanding the cognitive processes underlying body dissatisfaction provides important information on the development and perpetuation of eating pathology. Previous research suggests that body-dissatisfied women process weight-related information differently than body-satisfied women, but the precise nature of these processing differences is not yet understood. In this study, eye-gaze tracking was used to measure attention to weight-related words in body-dissatisfied (n = 40) and body-satisfied (n = 38) women, before and after exposure to images of thin fashion models. Participants viewed 8-second displays containing fat-related, thin-related, and neutral words while their eye fixations were tracked and recorded. Based on previous research and theory, we predicted that body-dissatisfied women would attend to fat-related words more than body-satisfied women and would attend to thin-related words less. It was also predicted that exposure to thin model images would increase self-rated body dissatisfaction and heighten group differences in attention. The results indicated that body-dissatisfied women attended to both fat-and thin-related words more than body-satisfied women and that exposure to thin models did not increase this effect. Implications for cognitive models of eating disorders are discussed.

  • 出版日期2018-2-15