Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Motivation, Emotion, and Personality

Publication Date

2014

Volume

2

Issue

1

First Page

50

Last Page

57

Keywords

eating disorders, sociocultural attitudes, metamotivational constructs, autic sympathy

DOI

10.12689/jmep.2014.206

Abstract

Previous research has examined both sociocultural effects (e.g., Thompson et al., 2004) and personality influences (e.g., Cassin & von Ranson, 2005) on eating disordered behavior. However, comparatively little research has employed the theoretical framework of reversal theory (RT). The present study examined the relationship between reversal theory’s metamotivational personality constructs and risk of eating pathology, along with the mediating effects of sociocultural attitudes. A non-clinical sample of 123 undergraduate students completed the Motivational Style Profile (MSP), Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), and a demographic profile. Simple t-tests suggested significant differences between males and females and the sexes were analyzed separately. The RT construct of autic sympathy (desire to be attractive and liked by others; Apter, Mallows & Williams, 1998) was determined to be a significant predictor of increased eating pathology in the female subsample. This relationship was fully mediated by sociocultural factors. Rebelliousness was also significantly and positively related to risky eating behaviors. Findings are discussed in relation to the role of reversal theory in enhancing our understanding of risks associated with, and the ability to predict, the development of eating pathology. These results may contribute to the assessment and treatment of females who engage in risky eating behavior.

Comments

Authors that have articles published in the Journal of Motivation, Emotion, and Personality agree that the article is governed by an open access Creative Commons Attribution, No Derivative Works license (CC BY-ND 3.0). Under the terms of this license, authors retain ownership of the copyright of their articles. Any redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, is allowed as long as the article is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the author.

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