Body Image, Fear of Fat, and Attentional Bias for Thin and Non-thin Bodies

<p>The study examined the impact of Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) on body image and fear of fat in college women. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an ABM condition or a non-ABM placebo condition in viewing a series of thin and non-thin body stimuli. Extending previous work documenting associations between attentional biases and body dissatisfaction and the effects of ABM on body dissatisfaction, we hypothesized that effects of an ABM task designed to direct attention toward non-thin bodies would: (a) decrease body dissatisfaction, (b) increase body appreciation, and (c) decrease fear of fat. There were no significant differences across experimental conditions on body dissatisfaction, body appreciation, and fear of fat. This was the case for both in-laboratory difference scores and follow-up difference scores. These findings are a conceptual replication of previous work (Loughnan et al., 2015). Methodological explanations are offered with respect to improving the future tests of ABM on attentional biases for thin and non-thin body images.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts - Psychology

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• KHALEGHI, NEUSHA

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sarah Savoy
• Scott Drury
• Scott Hutchens

• attentional bias modification
• body dissatisfaction
• positive body image
• fear of fat
• Social Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/183

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.sfasu.edu:etds-1199