PMID: 9547664Apr 21, 1998Paper

The slender ideal and eating disorders: an interdisciplinary "telescope" model

The International Journal of Eating Disorders
N Barber

Abstract

This paper interprets eating disorders (including anorexia and bulimia) as one (nonfunctional) manifestation, in modern environments, of evolved psychological mechanisms which modulate the standard of feminine bodily attractiveness as a response to economic conditions. Published evidence from anthropology, sociology, and psychology was used to evaluate predictions that (1) where economic independence is possible, women favor a slender standard and (2) where women lack economic power, marriage tends to be favored and the standard becomes more curvaceous. These patterns were tested by correlating U.S. economic data with changing standards of bodily curvaceousness in Vogue and Playboy. Psychological and biological mechanisms by which the slender standard produces anorexia and bulimia were examined. Published evidence and the empirical data suggest that the standard of bodily curvaceousness is determined by the economics of reproduction. These ideas permit integration of the research on eating disorders in several disciplines and suggest many avenues for future enquiry.

Citations

Apr 24, 1999·The Journal of Social Psychology·N Barber
Jul 17, 2004·Journal of Addictive Diseases·Anne E BeckerJennifer J Thomas
Nov 30, 2010·Body Image·Nana A Dawson-AndohScott Parker
Sep 11, 2004·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Terry F Pettijohn, Brian J Jungeberg

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