Self-Deceptive Enhancement and Family Environment: Possible Protective Factors Against Internalization of the Thin Ideal

Abstract

We examined the degree to which self-deceptive enhancement and/or family environment moderated the relationship between awareness and internalization of sociocultural appearance standards. We administered the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire, the Family Environment Scale, the Family History of Eating questionnaire, and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding to female undergraduate students (N = 232) and tested our predictions with moderator regression. Self-deceptive enhancement appeared to moderate the relationship between awareness and internalization. Family history of weight and appearance preoccupation also marginally moderated the relationship whereas general family environment did not. High levels of self-deceptive enhancement may serve as a protective factor against internalization of sociocultural pressures. High levels of family preoccupation with weight and appearance may have the opposite effect, making women more vulnerable to internalization. Portions of this paper were presented at the 2002 conference of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy.