Temperament and loving-styles in college women: associations with eating attitudes

The purpose of the present study was to examine the associations of temperament and love attitudes with eating behaviors in 190 college-aged nonclinical women who completed a survey that included measures of temperament, loving-style, and eating attitudes. Certain temperament and loving-style variables showed significant statistical association with scores on eating attitudes. Specifically, both obsessive and game-playing love-styles were related to the Dieting and Bulimia-Food Preoccupation dimensions of the eating scales, while temperamental fear and anger were related to bulimia and oral control. The role of interpersonal relationships and self-perceptions of temperament may provide a useful perspective for understanding the etiology of eating disorders.