Automatic pro-thin/anti-fat biases can develop without previous visual exposure to body shapes.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Body Image Research
• Eating Disorder Etiology

Background:

• The thin beauty ideal is linked to body dissatisfaction and eating disorders.
• Visual media is theorized as a primary driver of thin ideal internalization.
• Internalization creates automatic pro-thin and anti-fat attitudes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the thin ideal can be internalized without visual exposure.
• To determine if automatic pro-thin and anti-fat attitudes form without visual input.
• To challenge the sole reliance on visual media in thin ideal internalization theories.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a novel auditory implicit association test.
• Compared women with congenital blindness to sighted women.
• Conducted cross-cultural replication with a combined sample of 142 women.

Main Results:

• Women with congenital blindness showed automatic pro-thin and anti-fat attitudes.
• Attitude formation in blind women was comparable to sighted women.
• Internalization of the thin ideal occurred without visual exposure to body shapes.

Conclusions:

• Visual exposure is not essential for thin ideal internalization.
• Internalization of the thin ideal can occur through non-visual pathways.
• Body image attitudes may develop independently of visual media influence.