TY - JOUR
T1 - Fat or fiction? Effects of body size, eating pathology, and sex upon the body schema of an undergraduate population.
AU - Wignall, Sophie
AU - Thomas, Nicole
AU - Nicholls, Michael
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - Although there is a growing consensus that women with anorexia nervosa have a distorted body schema, the origins of this disturbance remain uncertain. The present investigation examined the effects of body size, eating pathology, and sex upon the body schema of an at-risk, undergraduate population. In Study 1, 98 participants mentally simulated their passage through apertures. When aperture width was manipulated, narrow and broad women over- and under-estimated their spatial requirements for passage, respectively. This relationship was exacerbated by dietary restraint. When aperture height was manipulated, short and tall men over- and under-estimated their spatial requirements for passage, respectively. Study 2 (N = 32) replicated the association between women's veridical and internally-represented widths, although no significant effects of eating pathology were observed. Our findings suggest that body schema enlargement is not necessarily pathological, and may be driven by normal perceptual biases and internalised sociocultural body ideals.
AB - Although there is a growing consensus that women with anorexia nervosa have a distorted body schema, the origins of this disturbance remain uncertain. The present investigation examined the effects of body size, eating pathology, and sex upon the body schema of an at-risk, undergraduate population. In Study 1, 98 participants mentally simulated their passage through apertures. When aperture width was manipulated, narrow and broad women over- and under-estimated their spatial requirements for passage, respectively. This relationship was exacerbated by dietary restraint. When aperture height was manipulated, short and tall men over- and under-estimated their spatial requirements for passage, respectively. Study 2 (N = 32) replicated the association between women's veridical and internally-represented widths, although no significant effects of eating pathology were observed. Our findings suggest that body schema enlargement is not necessarily pathological, and may be driven by normal perceptual biases and internalised sociocultural body ideals.
KW - Anorexia nervosa
KW - Body image
KW - Body schema
KW - Body size
KW - Motor imagery
KW - Perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030695168&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.09.004
DO - 10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.09.004
M3 - Article
VL - 23
SP - 135
EP - 145
JO - Body Image
JF - Body Image
SN - 1740-1445
ER -