Abstract
There is increasing interest in understanding what role, if any, sex and sexual orientation play in body dissatisfaction, its correlates to distress, and its relationship to disordered eating. The goals of the present study were to examine: (a) differences in sex and sexual orientation in internalization of societal pressure to modify physical appearance, components of body image dissatisfaction, self-esteem, and eating disorder symptomatology and (b) whether the internalization-eating disorder symptomatology was mediated by the different components of body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. The present data support several key trends in the literature: men generally reported less body dissatisfaction, internalization of socio-cultural standards of beauty, drive for thinness, and disordered eating, but a greater drive for muscularity than women; results also indicated that different components of body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between internalization and eating disorder symptomatology. Gay men reported significantly more body dissatisfaction, internalization, eating disorder symptomatology, drive for thinness, and drive for muscularity than heterosexual men. Compared to heterosexual women, lesbians reported increased drive for muscularity, lower self-esteem, and lower internalization; however, they did not significantly differ on body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness or disordered eating. Correlation coefficients between body shape dissatisfaction and several aspects of mental distress were significantly larger for gay men than heterosexual men; the same coefficients did not differ between lesbian women and heterosexual women. Results of path analyses indicated that the relationship between internalization and disordered eating differs for gay and heterosexual men but not for lesbian and heterosexual women. These results call attention to lesbians as a generally understudied population.
Highlights
There has been increasing interest in the risk of eating disorder symptomatology in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations
According to the socio-cultural model, men and women who internalize the cultural standards of beauty are more vulnerable to developing high levels of body dissatisfaction than those who do not, and, in turn, are more likely to engage in harmful behaviors in an attempt to control and modify their appearance according to what societal pressures dictate (Stice and Shaw, 2002)
The second goal of the current study was to examine a more comprehensive model than has been previously explored, which includes both links of internalization of sociocultural standards of beauty to eating disorder symptomatology, and the mediating roles of the different components of body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem
Summary
There has been increasing interest in the risk of eating disorder symptomatology in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations. Endorsement of cultural body shape ideals and the values associated with them indicates that these ideals can become a reference point against which individuals judge their body; self-worth becomes contingent on meeting them (FitzsimmonsCraft, 2011; Dakanalis and Riva, 2013). Among both sexes, internalization strongly predicts body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. According to the socio-cultural model, men and women who internalize the cultural standards of beauty are more vulnerable to developing high levels of body dissatisfaction than those who do not, and, in turn, are more likely to engage in harmful behaviors in an attempt to control and modify their appearance according to what societal pressures dictate (Stice and Shaw, 2002)
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