This research examined automatic evaluation of body-related stimuli in female undergraduates using an affective priming task. Automaticity was tested by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) and valence congruence of the prime and target pairs. The prime to target interval (SOA) was either short or long, and the valence of the paired items was either the same (congruent) or different (incongruent). Automaticity was indicated by faster responses to congruent pairs than to incongruent pairs at the short SOA (parsimonious criterion) but not at the long SOA (classic criterion). Individual differences in thin internalisation, appearance schematicity, body dissatisfaction, and dietary restraint were assessed as potential moderators. Automatic evaluation of body-related images, but not words, was demonstrated in Study 1B and Study 1A, respectively. In Study 2A, automatic evaluation of nonbody-related words was obtained and this was extended to body-related words (Study 2B). In Study 3, automatic evaluation of normatively-selected body words was examined and body image schema activation was tested as a function of level of appearance schematicity. There was a trend toward automaticity and schematicity did not moderate schema activation. Overall, elevated body image concerns did not influence automatic evaluation in Studies 1A to 3 (with the exception of Study 1B). The role of extreme levels of appearance schematicity on automaticity and schema activation was examined in Studies 4A and 4B for normative and idiographic primes. Automatic evaluation was demonstrated in Study 4A and a trend was obtained in Study 4B. Schematicity did not moderate affective processing or schema activation. Automatic evaluation of body-related images was replicated in Study 5 but it was not moderated by prime strength or individual differences. Overall, the research suggests that most female undergraduates, irrespective of differences in body image concerns, automatically evaluate body-related stimuli. The final chapter provides an overview of the findings and discusses the theoretical and practical implications.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / University students are known to have a high prevalence of body dissatisfaction, dieting and disordered eating and exercise behaviours. Those enrolled in food and exercise related degree areas have been found to be particularly vulnerable. Part 1 of this study compared the body image, body dissatisfaction, dieting, disordered eating and exercise behaviours of first year male and female trainee physical education [PE; N = 295] teachers and undergraduates enrolled in non food and exercise related degree areas [Non PE; N = 207]. Male and female PE participants had a lower body image and higher body dissatisfaction and were significantly more likely to be dieting and engaging in disordered eating behaviours than Non PE participants. These findings provide empirical evidence of anecdotal suspicions that trainee physical education teachers are susceptible to body image problems and eating disorders; and create a demand for for intervention programs to improve the body image, body dissatisfaction, dieting and disordered eating and exercise behaviours of this population. Part 2 of this study involved the development of a dissonance and self esteem based (Intervention 1) and a dissonance, and media literacy based intervention that built self esteem and used computer technologies (Intervention 2) to be implemented into trainee physical education teachers’ [N= 170] undergraduate training. Both interventions were successful in improving the body image, and disordered eating behaviours of trainee PE teachers compared to a control group; which suggests that the inclusion of intervention programs in trainee teacher’s undergraduate training is both feasible and effective. Further research should investigate the effects of intervention programs to improve body image and eating behaviours among trainee physical education teachers; and male university students. The development of standardised measures and approaches toward the improvement of body image, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating and exercise behaviours that are specifically designed for males is also encouraged.

This dissertation investigates how masculinities are understood and practiced through the body and how such practices are shaped and limited by modernist theories about gender. The research argues that postmodern theory allows for a greater inclusivity of genders and bodies otherwise marginalised by modernity. A qualitative postmodern and poststructural methodology, combined with a research method involving the collection of all data via an on-line questionnaire, disrupts modernist, dualistic thinking about the body and gender. By distancing the physical body from the research method, and thus separating, temporarily, discourses of gender which inhabit the body, this research creates counter-hegemonic spaces to re-articulate masculine identities and practices within the postmodern condition. Furthermore, the postmodern theory and methodology informing this work unsettles the belief that physical bodies can be counted on to reveal consistent truths. The contextualisation of this work includes a chapter that recounts various historical moments where technological advancements made way for the re-consideration and re-negotiation of gender and bodies. The intersections of technology and modernity are examined along with the rise of the postmodern condition and the advancement of computer technologies. Shifts in understanding, influenced by postmodern theory and human-computer interaction, are discussed in relation to their challenges to modernist boundaries of ?the real? and, in turn, the possibilities of gender articulations. Additionally, a chapter containing critical researcher reflexivity through an autobiographical account of masculinities and schooling acts to illustrate some of the complexities, contradictions, privileges and counter-hegemonic possibilities of masculinities and bodies. Although the majority of the research participants identified as ?male?, some identified as ?female? and others identified as ?intersex?. The geographic identities of the respondents included Australia, The United Kingdom, Ireland, The United States, and Japan. The data were analysed using postmodern and poststructural theory. The subjectivity and the role of the researcher in the analysis of data were interrogated alongside the words of the participants. The responses were grouped into four areas: Being and Knowing; The Body Engendered; Bodies On-Line and On the Line, and New Articulations. In all four areas the participants? words demonstrate tensions between modern and postmodern understandings of bodies and genders. Computer technologies often replicate modernist images of gender and bodies, yet at the same time they provide a postmodern space of multiplicity, fluidity, and hybridity, where rigid modernist configurations cannot hold. The analysis illuminates, diffracts, disrupts, and highlights disjunctures and new possibilities for gender and bodies mediated by contemporary computer and Internet technologies. Lastly, Benjaminian dialectical images were used to transform fixed modernist beliefs about gender and bodies and to move the reader toward alternative ways of understanding gender which are not body dependent. / thesis (PhDEducation)--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Springfield College, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-- Springfield College, 2006. / Bibliography: leaves 276-294.

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes survey instruments. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 177-187)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-43).