Body shape preferences: Effects of instructional protocol and level of eating disturbance

Abstract

From a larger sample of 120 college females, subjects were dichotomized into eating-disturbed and asymptomatic groups (20 subjects per sample) based on responses to a measure of bulimic behaviors. All subjects chose body figure preferences based on the following protocols: (1) ideal; (2) how they thought they looked; (3) how they felt they looked; (4) how they thought they looked to others; and (5) the figure they thought was most attractive to men. Subjects also completed a measure of general physical appearance satisfaction and teasing history. Large discrepancies between figure ratings, appearance satisfaction, and teasing history were found between the two groups. The findings replicate and extend recent work in the area of human figure preferences in normal populations.