The thin ideal and body image: an experimental study of implicit attitudes

Thin-ideal internalization is a core construct in body dissatisfaction, central to eating disorders and generally assessed with explicit measures. To compare implicit and explicit measures of thin-ideal internalization and their relationship to body image, the authors developed a thin-ideal implicit association test (IAT). Although the IAT revealed a strong cognitive bias toward fat as negative (differences in response latencies: t[85]=9.829, p<.001, d=1.06), this failed to discriminate among participants on body image. In contrast, the explicit measure of thin-ideal internalization significantly correlated with body dissatisfaction (r=.39), drive for thinness (r=.29), and restraint (r=.32). Automatic associations assessed by the IAT indicated that fat is generally held as a negative attribute; thus, the thin-ideal IAT was insufficiently sensitive to predict body dissatisfaction.