Date of Award
4-2022
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts - Psychology
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Sarah Savoy
Second Advisor
Dr. Sylvia Middlebrook
Third Advisor
Dr. Catherine Pearte
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey
Abstract
The present study examined the previously understudied notion that Black individuals are buffered against being dissatisfied with their bodies and in turn developing unhealthy eating and weight control behaviors. Double consciousness, a racially/ethnically sensitive measure of body dissatisfaction, was tested as a mediator of the relation between ethnic identity and unhealthy eating and weight control behaviors in Black and White adults. It was anticipated that unhealthy weight control behaviors would be more common in Black women compared to White women and that double consciousness would mediate the association between ethnic identity and unhealthy weight control behaviors among Black women, but not White women. The same hypotheses were tested in men. Unhealthy eating and weight control behaviors were significantly less common in Black compared to White participants (regardless of gender) and double consciousness did not mediate the association between ethnic identity and unhealthy weight control behaviors in Black women, White women, or White men. For Black men, however, double consciousness did mediate the association between ethnic identity and unhealthy weight control behaviors. This finding warrants further exploration, perhaps pointing to a culturally unique experience of appearance-related distress among Black men with unhealthy eating concerns.
Repository Citation
Ihionkhan, Priscillia, "Double Consciousness and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors in Young Black and White Adults" (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 436.
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/436
Creative Commons License
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