Monday, August 2, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

3

'U' study: women base self-worth in weight

Among other races,
white women who are
preoccupied with body
weight seek thinness
By CAITLIN HUSTON
Daily StffReporter
A University study suggests that
white women who base their self-
worth on body weight experience a
significant drive toward thinness,
despite having healthy body mass
indices. Women of other races share
a similar, though less significant, con-
nection between self-worth and body
weight, according to the study.
Led by Natalie Cole, a Ph.D. can-
didate in women's studies and psy-
chology, the study, published in June,
consisted of two surveys in which
college-aged women were asked to
declare their ethnic identity and
answer questions regarding the con-
nection between their self-worth and
body weight.
Cole said the goal of the surveys,



which were conducted in the early
years of the past decade, was to note
any differences in body satisfaction
between different ethnic groups. The
study also examined what factors, if
any, led women to engage in dieting
behaviors.
Though Cole said she expected
white women to have the highest drive
for thinness, she was surprised to
find that white women had that drive
even as they claimed they had overall
healthy body weight and satisfaction
with their appearance.
Cole added it was clear that after
answering whether or not their body
satisfaction would go up or down
if they lost 10 pounds, participants
showed that their self-worth was
linked to being thin.
This finding was significant, Cole
said, to her and the co-authors of the
study - Elizabeth Cole, an associ-
ate professor in women's studies, and
Monique Ward, an associate professor
of psychology - because it conflicts
with previous notions about women
who choose to engage in dieting
behaviors.
"We thought that was particularly


important because it really speaks to
this idea that how much you weigh is
related to how you feel about your-
self overall and that's happening for
white women regardless of (whether)
they're satisfied with their appear-
ance or if they're of normal weight,"
Cole said.
Though the study did not exam-
ine why white women placed a high
importance on weight, Cole said she
believes it is due to the images of thin
women that are perpetuated in the
media.
"I think that women see those objec-
tified images and really identify with
that and think that in order to have
value, in order to be seen as sexy, you
need to looka certain ways," she said.
Because many of the images are
white women, Cole said some people
do not think that other ethnic groups
experience the same drive for thin-
ness.
Though African American women
ranked the lowest for the drive for
thinness and basing self-worth to their
weight, Cole said they also found that
some of the African American par-
ticipants did base their self-worth on


weight and were susceptible to dieting
behaviors.
Findings in the study also indicated
that though Asian American women
had the lowest BMI average, they also
had low satisfaction with their body
appearance.
Cole said she hopes these findings
can aid educators and counselors who
are working with women onbody and
self-esteem.
"One of our hopes for what will hap-
pen with this research is that it will
help inform people who are working
with African American women and
Asian American women to really edu-
cate them more about what's going on
with their body image and eating hab-
its, so that they can really be in tune
with that group," she said.
Though Cole said she is now focused
on the interaction between older
women and body image, she said she
and her colleagues are still particu-
larly interested in under-represented
groups.
"We're really interested in peo-
ple whose experiences haven't been
explored as much in the literature,"
she said.


Coming this week to
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City Council primary
results will be revealed
Tuesday night.
Eric Stulberg discusses the
failure of the United Nations to
defend human rights.
...........................
JimAbbott'sjourney from
Flint Central High School to
the Big Leagues is profiled.
Arcade Fire goes far out
on The Suburbs, to be released
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