Conflicting Gender Role Prescriptions and Disordered Eating in Single-sex and Coeducational School Environments

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to illuminate the significance of data collected by Dyer and Tiggemann (1996) in Australia studying the effect of single-sex versus coeducational school environments on body concerns in adolescent women. First, research on why parents and their children choose to be educated in single-sex versus coeducational environments is detailed. Research revealing that adolescents from single-sex schools are often overexposed to confusing gender role attitudes is then reviewed. Finally, a connection is made between disordered eating and a sense of gender ambivalence resulting from increased exposure to conflicting gender role prescriptions. Based on the argument developed, it is predicted that girls attending single-sex schools will exhibit greater body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology than their coeducational counterparts. This hypothesis is tested and supported in a reanalysis of the data already mentioned. The counter-intuitive nature of these findings and future implications of the research are discussed.