Dietary restraint in college women: Fear of an imperfect fat self is stronger than hope of a perfect thin self

Dalley, Simon, Toffanin, Paolo and Pollet, Thomas (2012) Dietary restraint in college women: Fear of an imperfect fat self is stronger than hope of a perfect thin self. Body Image, 9 (4). pp. 441-447. ISSN 1740-1445

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Abstract

We predicted that the perceived likelihood of acquiring a hoped-for thin self would mediate perfectionistic strivings on dietary restraint, and that the perceived likelihood of acquiring a feared fat self would mediate perfectionistic concerns on dietary restraint. We also predicted that the mediation pathway from perfectionistic concerns to dietary restraint would have a greater impact than that from perfectionistic strivings. Participants were 222 female college students who reported their height and weight and completed measures of perfectionism, the likelihood of acquiring the feared fat and hoped-for thin selves, and dietary restraint. Statistical analyses revealed that the perceived likelihood of acquiring the feared fat self mediated both perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings on dietary restraint, and that the mediating pathway from perfectionistic concerns to dietary restraint was greater than that from perfectionistic strivings. Implications for future research and eating pathology interventions are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Perfectionistic concerns, Perfectionistic strivings, Perceived likelihood, Dietary restraint, Possible selves
Subjects:	C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	Becky Skoyles
Date Deposited:	25 Sep 2017 15:45
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 16:30
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/32022

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