Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000), the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the protective role of self-determined (i.e., autonomous motivation) relative to non self-determined motivation (i.e., controlled motivation) in response to various media portrayals of the female body. Findings from three laboratory experiments support these hypotheses. Women who felt less self-determined in their daily activities (Study 1 and Study 3) and in the regulation of their eating behaviors (Study 2), perceived more pressure from the media to be thin (Study 1), experienced more body dissatisfaction (Study 1 and Study 2), expressed greater concerns over the quantity of food in their diets (Study 1), and reported more negative affect (Study 2) following exposure to a video which exemplified the societal ―thin ideal‖ compared to a video which did not. They also generated more negative self-appraisals of their body‘s appearance and competence (Study 3), experienced more body shame (Study 3), and reported more introjected reasons for restricting their actual intake of chocolate (Study 3) following exposure to video which depicted the female body as an instrument of women‘s actions compared to one which depicted the female body as object (Study 3). Conversely, women who felt more self-determined in their daily activities (Study 1 and Study 3) expressed greater concerns over the quality of food in their diet (Study 1) and reported less vitality (Study 3) in response to media portrayals of women engaged in self-care (Study 1) and physical activities (Study 3). However, body dissatisfied women who felt more self-determined in the regulation of their eating behaviors (Study 2) formulated more intentions to monitor their food intake and eat fewer unhealthy foods (Study 2) after viewing a video of thin female models compared to no models. Together, these findings support a protective function for self-determined motivation and a potentiating function for non self-determined motivation.

Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000), the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the protective role of self-determined (i.e., autonomous motivation) relative to non self-determined motivation (i.e., controlled motivation) in response to various media portrayals of the female body. Findings from three laboratory experiments support these hypotheses. Women who felt less self-determined in their daily activities (Study 1 and Study 3) and in the regulation of their eating behaviors (Study 2), perceived more pressure from the media to be thin (Study 1), experienced more body dissatisfaction (Study 1 and Study 2), expressed greater concerns over the quantity of food in their diets (Study 1), and reported more negative affect (Study 2) following exposure to a video which exemplified the societal ―thin ideal‖ compared to a video which did not. They also generated more negative self-appraisals of their body‘s appearance and competence (Study 3), experienced more body shame (Study 3), and reported more introjected reasons for restricting their actual intake of chocolate (Study 3) following exposure to video which depicted the female body as an instrument of women‘s actions compared to one which depicted the female body as object (Study 3). Conversely, women who felt more self-determined in their daily activities (Study 1 and Study 3) expressed greater concerns over the quality of food in their diet (Study 1) and reported less vitality (Study 3) in response to media portrayals of women engaged in self-care (Study 1) and physical activities (Study 3). However, body dissatisfied women who felt more self-determined in the regulation of their eating behaviors (Study 2) formulated more intentions to monitor their food intake and eat fewer unhealthy foods (Study 2) after viewing a video of thin female models compared to no models. Together, these findings support a protective function for self-determined motivation and a potentiating function for non self-determined motivation.

Body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders are more prevalent in today's society than ever. As a result, several prevention programs targeting the common eating disorder risk factors have been developed. The purpose of the current study was to investigate a new kind of prevention program that is based on the dual pathway model of eating disorders within the context of an individual?s romantic relationship. The current prevention program reduced eating disorder risk factors but failed to affect relationship satisfaction. Effect sizes were small to medium in magnitude for most of the targeted risk factors. The inclusion of men and women alike in eating disorder prevention programs appear to be a successful way of addressing the thin ideal and its detrimental effects. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

A cross-sectional and longitudinal examination of thin-ideal internalization and self-objectification was conducted within the context of an eating disorder prevention program. The sample consisted of 177 undergraduate women enrolled in a sorority between the ages of 18 and 22 who participated in a dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program. Participants completed self-report assessments at baseline, post-intervention, 5-month, and 1-year follow-up. Measures included the Ideal-Body Stereotype Scale-Revised, Self-Objectification Questionnaire, Body Shape Questionnaire, and Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire. A cross-sectional path analysis indicated that thin-ideal internalization and self-objectification predict each other and both predict body dissatisfaction, which in turn, predicts eating disorder symptoms. A longitudinal examination of the prevention program indicated that participants showed significant reductions in thin-ideal internalization, self-objectification, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptoms after participating in a cognitive dissonance eating disorder prevention program. Significant reductions of all symptoms were maintained at 1-year follow-up, with the exception of self-objectification, which had a significant reduction up to the 5-month assessment. A longitudinal path analysis indicated that post-intervention thin-ideal internalization and self-objectification predicted body dissatisfaction at 5-month follow-up assessments which in turn predicted eating disorder symptoms at this same time point. This model was replicated for 1-year follow-up body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms with the exception of the direct path from self-objectification to body dissatisfaction. Assessment of temporal sequence of change between self-objectification and thin-ideal internalization revealed that neither variable significantly predicted meaningful change in the other variable. Finally, individuals who showed meaningful change in self-objectification before showing meaningful reduction in thin-ideal internalization from baseline to post-intervention assessments had greater reductions in eating disorder symptoms 1-year following the intervention. Collectively, these results suggest that eating disorder prevention programs should focus on targeting both thin-ideal internalization and self-objectification simultaneously to increase further the reduction of eating disorder symptoms.

Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000), the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the protective role of self-determined (i.e., autonomous motivation) relative to non self-determined motivation (i.e., controlled motivation) in response to various media portrayals of the female body. Findings from three laboratory experiments support these hypotheses. Women who felt less self-determined in their daily activities (Study 1 and Study 3) and in the regulation of their eating behaviors (Study 2), perceived more pressure from the media to be thin (Study 1), experienced more body dissatisfaction (Study 1 and Study 2), expressed greater concerns over the quantity of food in their diets (Study 1), and reported more negative affect (Study 2) following exposure to a video which exemplified the societal ―thin ideal‖ compared to a video which did not. They also generated more negative self-appraisals of their body‘s appearance and competence (Study 3), experienced more body shame (Study 3), and reported more introjected reasons for restricting their actual intake of chocolate (Study 3) following exposure to video which depicted the female body as an instrument of women‘s actions compared to one which depicted the female body as object (Study 3). Conversely, women who felt more self-determined in their daily activities (Study 1 and Study 3) expressed greater concerns over the quality of food in their diet (Study 1) and reported less vitality (Study 3) in response to media portrayals of women engaged in self-care (Study 1) and physical activities (Study 3). However, body dissatisfied women who felt more self-determined in the regulation of their eating behaviors (Study 2) formulated more intentions to monitor their food intake and eat fewer unhealthy foods (Study 2) after viewing a video of thin female models compared to no models. Together, these findings support a protective function for self-determined motivation and a potentiating function for non self-determined motivation.

Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000), the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the protective role of self-determined (i.e., autonomous motivation) relative to non self-determined motivation (i.e., controlled motivation) in response to various media portrayals of the female body. Findings from three laboratory experiments support these hypotheses. Women who felt less self-determined in their daily activities (Study 1 and Study 3) and in the regulation of their eating behaviors (Study 2), perceived more pressure from the media to be thin (Study 1), experienced more body dissatisfaction (Study 1 and Study 2), expressed greater concerns over the quantity of food in their diets (Study 1), and reported more negative affect (Study 2) following exposure to a video which exemplified the societal ―thin ideal‖ compared to a video which did not. They also generated more negative self-appraisals of their body‘s appearance and competence (Study 3), experienced more body shame (Study 3), and reported more introjected reasons for restricting their actual intake of chocolate (Study 3) following exposure to video which depicted the female body as an instrument of women‘s actions compared to one which depicted the female body as object (Study 3). Conversely, women who felt more self-determined in their daily activities (Study 1 and Study 3) expressed greater concerns over the quality of food in their diet (Study 1) and reported less vitality (Study 3) in response to media portrayals of women engaged in self-care (Study 1) and physical activities (Study 3). However, body dissatisfied women who felt more self-determined in the regulation of their eating behaviors (Study 2) formulated more intentions to monitor their food intake and eat fewer unhealthy foods (Study 2) after viewing a video of thin female models compared to no models. Together, these findings support a protective function for self-determined motivation and a potentiating function for non self-determined motivation.

Through various media platforms, thin ideal is reproduced and considered as thenorm. Women who do not identify with this thin ideal are produced as "inferior" toother women. The aim of this study is to provide an understanding of how Swedishwomen between the ages of 30–40 construct and interpret the thin ideal. We haveinterviewed eight women who in one way or the other adhere to the “thin ideal”existing in Swedish society. To analyze our empirical material, we have mainly usedthe theories from Jenkins and Krekula. Jenkins´s theory has helped us to understandhow these women's identity-processes change in different social contexts. We haveused Kurakula’s theory to understand how age norms affect the ways the women areacting, in relation to their age. Our study shows that the women are effected by andcompare themselves to other women in Swedish society. To construct and interpretthe thin ideal they use different strategies which are to distance or themselves fromthe ideal or adapt themselves to the ideal. Yet, more important than that, our studyshows that women accept their bodies and consider being healthy more importantthan being thin.

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Thesis advisor: Stephen J. Pope / The aim of this dissertation is to expand a contemporary multidimensional discourse on the nature of eating disorders to encompass also a moral dimension. Eating disorders are complex phenomena which include biomedical, psychological, and sociocultural components. This dissertation brings the psychosocial literature on eating disorders and body dissatisfaction into dialogue with contemporary studies in Thomistic moral theology, and argues that such a multidisciplinary dialogue can illuminate new insights both for the study of eating disorders and for recent efforts to recover Thomistic moral theology in a contemporary context. Beginning empirically, the dissertation examines recent evidence showing that exposure to &ldquo;thin-ideal images&rdquo; in the mass media is positively correlated with an increase in body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology. Socioculturally, the explanation for this phenomenon is called &ldquo;thin-ideal internalization,&rdquo; and basically measures the extent to which individuals &ldquo;buy into&rdquo; the validity of images using ultra-thin female models as a paradigm of beauty. Women who have a high level of internalization desire to conform to a thin-ideal, and behave accordingly, even when they are rationally aware of the unrealistic and unhealthy nature of such an ideal. Turning to Thomas Aquinas' moral theology, the dissertation argues that thin-ideal internalization is a form of connatural knowledge, an affective form of knowing (<italic>per modum inclinationis</italic> or <italic>ex instinctu</italic>) which is at the very basis of Aquinas' moral theology, both in explaining the operation of habits and in explaining the role of grace in the moral life through charity and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This dissertation argues that Aquinas' theory of connatural knowledge provides a relevant and constructive contribution to the study of eating disorders, especially on the relationship between body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptamatology. Additionally, the incorporation of the psychosocial literature on eating disorders into Thomistic moral theology provide a valuable contribution to Thomistic moral theology in the effort to understand the role of the affections in moral deliberation, the development of habits, and the importance of Christian practices in the moral life. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

The purpose of the study is to confirm the reasons behind young Chinese women’s eating disturbances and self-esteem. The researcher uses the Tripartite Influence model to illustrate the relationship between internalization and pressures in the form of peer, family, and media pressure. It further reveals the relationship between internalization and self-esteem and eating disorders. Besides conforming with the mode of young Chinese females, it aims at finding out the reasons behind each relevant relationship. One point of the study is the different impact of media pressure on young Chinese females; the influence of media tends to be much lower in China and the reasons have been discussed in their entirety.