An attentional bias for thin bodies and its relation to body dissatisfaction

Joseph, Christina; LoBue, Vanessa; Rivera, Luis M.; Irving, Jennifer; Savoy, Sarah; Shiffrar, Maggie

doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.10.006

Cited by 39 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This contrasts our general effect of preferred attention allocation to index body parts of natural bodies with obesity. This result also contrasts a study in individuals with normal weight that found that participant's body dissatisfaction increases their attentional bias for thinness [40]. Nevertheless, it might again be an attempt of individuals with obesity suffering from high body dissatisfaction to avoid the confrontation, especially with body parts indicative of weight.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 54%

Where Do You Look Visual Attention to Human Bodies across the Weight Spectrum in Individuals with Normal Weight or with Obesity

Leehr¹,

Giel²,

Schäffeler³

et al. 2018

Obes Facts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: We investigated how individuals with normal weight (NW) versus individuals with obesity (OB) visually explore human bodies varying in BMI. Methods: 16 OB (BMI 37.5 ± 7.7 kg/m²) and 35 NW (BMI 21.5 ± 1.6 kg/m²) visually explored 35 natural photographs and 25 avatars depicting male and female bodies ranging from normal weight to obesity. Gaze behaviour was assessed using eye tracking technology. Additionally, participants rated the attractiveness of all body stimuli. Results: A comparison of the displayed gaze behaviour shown by both participant weight classes indicates that regarding visual stimuli of obese natural bodies, all participants (OB + NW) looked at the waist longer, whereas regarding visual stimuli of normal-weight bodies, all participants viewed the head longer. Overall, OB spent less time looking at the bodies than NW. All participants rated normal-weight bodies as more attractive than obese bodies. However, the NW sample rated the depicted obese bodies as even less attractive than the OB sample did. Conclusions: TheBMI of the explored body, but not the observer's BMI, produces differences in the visual exploration of human bodies. The displayed exploration pattern of obese bodies can cautiously be interpreted as a ‘de-individualised' and ‘obesity-focused' perception. This tendency may prove in close relationship with the negative cultural views on obesity.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 54%

Where Do You Look Visual Attention to Human Bodies across the Weight Spectrum in Individuals with Normal Weight or with Obesity

Leehr¹,

Giel²,

Schäffeler³

et al. 2018

Obes Facts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Empirical data show, an association between attentional biases in the processing of female body images and eating disorder symptoms [6–12]. When viewing body-related information of other females (including both whole bodies and body regions), it generally appears that women with elevated levels of eating disorder symptomatology selectively attend towards body stimuli connoting a thin physique and avoid non-thin body stimuli.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Glauert, Rhodes, Fink, and Grammer [15] found an automatic attentional bias to thin female bodies, compared to non-thin female bodies, in a non-clinical female sample. Further studies found that a greater attentional bias to thin bodies, relative to non-thin bodies, was associated with elevated levels of body dissatisfaction [6,8]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mediating role of rumination in the relation between attentional bias towards thin female bodies and eating disorder symptomatology

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study sought to investigate the association between selective attentional processing of body images, rumination, and eating disorder symptoms in young women. Seventy-three undergraduate female students (ages 17–24) completed a modified dot-probe task to assess whether young women showed a differential attentional bias pattern towards thin and non-thin female bodies. Participants also completed self-report measures of eating disorder pathology. It was found that increased reports of dietary restraint and body dissatisfaction were associated with both greater attentional bias towards thin bodies and avoidance of non-thin bodies (as compared to neutral images), although the former relationship was stronger than the latter. The results suggest attentional vigilance to thin-ideal images plays a greater role in the potential development and/or maintenance of eating disorder symptoms, at least in a university sample of young women. Results also revealed that eating disorder-specific rumination mediated the relationship between attentional bias to thin ideal images and eating disorder symptoms. These findings build on existing research and theories, for example the impaired disengagement model of rumination, and have potential clinical applications such as specifically targeting ruminative and/or attentional processes in the prevention and/or treatment of eating disorder symptoms.

show abstract

“…These results are consistent with previous studies that reported that women and men with a high drive for thinness showed AB toward weight‐related body parts when they were exposed to pictures of young, attractive men and women (Hewig et al, ). Likewise, BD seems to be strongly associated with an attentional preference toward idealized bodies over other types of bodies in both genders (Cho & Lee, ; Joseph et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of gender and body dissatisfaction on body‐related attentional bias: An eye‐tracking and virtual reality study

Porras-García

Ferrer-García

Ghiţă

et al. 2019

Intl J Eating Disorders

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective In the attentional bias (AB) phenomenon, eating disorder (ED) patients show a tendency to pay more attention to self‐attributed unattractive body parts than to other body parts. However, little research has focused on gender differences in body‐related attention, controlling for body dissatisfaction (BD). This study aimed to assess gender differences in AB toward specific weight‐ or nonweight‐related body parts using a virtual reality (VR)‐based embodiment technique and an eye‐tracking AB assessment. Method Forty‐five women (23 with high BD and 22 with low BD) and 40 men (20 with high BD and 20 with low BD) were subsequently embodied in three virtual avatars, the first based on the participant's actual measurements, the second being larger than the participant, and the third being the same as the first avatar. The number of fixations and complete fixation time on weight‐related areas of interest (W‐AOIs) and nonweight‐related areas of interest (NW‐AOIs) were recorded for the three assessment time/avatars. Results The results showed a statistically significant interaction between gender and time for total fixation time and number of fixations (p < .05). BD levels did not significantly affect the results. Overall, women paid more attention to the W‐AOIs than men, who in turn paid more attention to the NW‐AOIs. Furthermore, preliminary evidence was found for an AB toward muscular‐related AOIs among men. Conclusions This study provides new information about gender differences and BD in gaze pattern behaviors. Future psychological ED assessments and treatments could take advantage of the possibilities of VR while real‐time AB is objectively measured.

show abstract

An attentional bias for thin bodies and its relation to body dissatisfaction

Cited by 39 publications

References 37 publications

Where Do You Look Visual Attention to Human Bodies across the Weight Spectrum in Individuals with Normal Weight or with Obesity

Where Do You Look Visual Attention to Human Bodies across the Weight Spectrum in Individuals with Normal Weight or with Obesity

The mediating role of rumination in the relation between attentional bias towards thin female bodies and eating disorder symptomatology

The influence of gender and body dissatisfaction on body‐related attentional bias: An eye‐tracking and virtual reality study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About