Overeating and sex-role orientation in women

Abstract

In a study on 540 women, the relationship between overeating and sex-role orientation, and the effects of anxiety and negative self-concept on this relationship was studied. Two types of overeating are distinguished: emotional, and external eating behavior. Both emotional and external eating behavior were found to be related to the adherence to feminine stereotype traits, not to the adherence to masculine stereotype traits. Furthermore, these relationships were attenuated when scores for the scales for anxiety and self-concept were partialed out. This suggests that the contribution of femininity to both types of overeating is due mainly to anxiety and negative self-concept associated with female stereotype traits. It is concluded that feminine sex-typed women seem to be particularly at risk for overeating.