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An experimental test of the relationship between self-esteem and concern about body shape and weight in restrained
A Meijboom1, A Jansen, M Kampman
1Department of Experimental Abnormal Psychology, Universiteit Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Objective:
Although self-esteem and overconcern with body shape and weight are considered to be closely connected in bulimia nervosa, little empirical research has been done to investigate the alleged link.
Method:
In this study, we examined experimentally whether overconcern with body shape and weight was connected with self-esteem in an analogue sample of high restrained eaters by means of a subliminal lexical decision task.
Results:
It could indeed be demonstrated that low self-esteem and overconcern with body shape and weight are associated in high restrained eaters: after priming low self-esteem, the accessibility of subliminally presented body shape and weight stimuli was increased. The effect was not found with a supraliminal lexical decision task.
Discussion:
Apparently, the automatic, nonconscious processing of body shape and weight words was influenced in high restrained eaters with a low state self-esteem, whereas the strategic, conscious processing was not. As soon as the body shape and weight stimuli were processed consciously, the initial increased accessibility was countered and the effect disappeared.