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Anorexia: A "losing" strategy?

L Mealey1

  • 1Psychology Department, College of St. Benedict, 56374, St. Joseph, MN. LMealey@CSBSJU.edu.

Human Nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.)
|July 21, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Anorexia may be a manipulative strategy, not an adaptive response. This perspective suggests modern anorexia epidemics result from intensified competition, amplified by media, where individuals impose suppression on others.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Sociology

Background:

  • The Reproductive Suppression Model (RSM) posits that females adaptively suppress reproduction under stress.
  • Previous models viewed anorexia as either adaptive self-suppression or a maladaptive response to modern environments.
  • The RSM also includes manipulative reproductive suppression of subordinates by dominants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To re-examine the Reproductive Suppression Model (RSM) in the context of anorexia nervosa.
  • To propose an alternative explanation for the modern "epidemic" of anorexia.
  • To investigate the role of intrasexual competition and media in the prevalence of anorexia.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical analysis and synthesis of existing literature on the RSM and anorexia nervosa.
  • Application of evolutionary principles to understand social dynamics and behavioral strategies.
  • Examination of the influence of modern communication media on social competition.

Main Results:

  • Anorexia is proposed not as adaptive self-suppression or a "gone awry" adaptation.
  • Modern anorexia "epidemics" are linked to heightened intrasexual competition.
  • This competition is amplified by the reach of modern communication media.

Conclusions:

  • Anorexia, even in mild forms, is framed as a manipulative strategy imposed by dominants on subordinates.
  • This perspective reframes anorexia as a "losing" strategy for all involved.
  • Intrasexual competition, magnified by media, is presented as the primary driver of modern anorexia prevalence.
Keywords:
AnorexiaEvolutionary psychiatryFemale competitionIntrasexual selectionReproductive suppression

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