Due to the seriousness and prevalence of eating disorders, exploring the etiology of these disorders and identifying specific at-risk populations is crucial. One promising risk factor that has been linked to the development of eating disorders is competitiveness (Burckle, Ryckman, Gold, Thornton, & Audesse, 1999; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, Grunberg, & Rodin, 1990). Additionally, specific populations of women have been shown to experience higher rates of eating disorders. Women in sororities are one such group identified with higher rates of disordered eating than their non-sorority counterparts (Basow, Foran, Bookwala, 2007; Crandall,1988; Schulken, Pinciaro, Sawyer, Jensen, & Hoban, 1997). Therefore this study will seek to understand more about how competitiveness may differentially impact this population of women and contribute to higher rates of eating disorder symptomatology. This project has several objectives. First, the prevalence of eating disorders, competition among women, and relational aggression among women in sororities will be addressed. In order to assess whether women in sororities differ from women who are not in sororities on measures of eating disorders symptomatology, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be conducted. The constructs of competitiveness and relational aggression will be compared amongwomen in sororities and their non-sorority counterparts. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) will be conducted to determine whether there are mean differences between women in sororities and those not on four constructs of competitiveness (hypercompetitiveness, personal development competitiveness, female competition for status competitiveness, and female competition for mates competitiveness). Finally, an ANOVA will be conducted to determine if there are mean differences between women in sororities and women not in sororities on a measure of relational aggression. The second focus of this project is to examine if different forms of competitiveness are better at predicting eating disorders. The constructs of competitiveness that have been individually demonstrated to predict eating disorder behavior will be included. Multiple regression will be used to examine how well knowing a participant’s type of competitive attitude will help explain eating disorder symptomatology. Lastly, because the literature has not yet explored how relational aggression relates to the development of eating disorders, the final purpose of this study will be to understand this relationship. In attempting to understand this relationship, a mediation model will be performed. Participants for this study will include 270 undergraduate women from the Educational Psychology subject pool. / text

The following will explore the operation of evolved mechanisms connected with cycling fertility. I first address strategic shifts in women’s behavior near ovulation and hypothesize that certain behavioral shifts at high fertility reflect an increase in women’s intrasexual competition tactics when conception is most probable. A simulated, online shopping program was designed to track women’s spending patterns (at varying budgets) on clothing, undergarments, shoes, jewelry, and other fashion accessories – items that likely enhance a woman’s ability to attract a high quality mate and effectively compete with same-sex rivals. Additionally, a laboratory task was created to assess women’s likelihood of incurring a risk to appear more attractive and have access to more resources than same-sex peers. Studies 1-3 will explore the effect of fertility on women’s consumer behavior and the influence of same-sex peers on fertility-induced motivation to appear more attractive. Study 4 will further examine fertility-induced shifts in women’s intrasexual competitiveness by measuring context-specific risks women take to gain a positional advantage over same-sex peers. The current studies present new data that provide novel insights into human adaptations to cycling fertility and highlight important decision-making processes that guide women’s social competition within a variety of domains. / text