The Relationship Between Religious Orientation and Body Image

Satisfaction and the Thin Body Ideal Among Female College Students

Sue Walsh PhD., ATCConcordia University Chicago

Agenda

• Development• Purpose• Problem• Sociocultural Theory• Research Questions• Procedures• Variables• Results• Conclusions • Limitations & Delimitations• Future Research

Development

• Peter Walters PhD–Wheaton College

• Harold Koenig M.D.– Duke University

– Leading researcher on health and religion

Purpose

To investigate the relationship between religious orientation and the sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and body image satisfaction among female college students.

Allport’s Religious Orientation

• Gordon Allport's theoretical distinction between mature and immature religion (Allport and Ross ,1967)

• Not all religious individuals are created equally: Individuals might engage in similar religious behaviors, such as church attendance, their underlying motives may differ, depending on the “maturity” of their respective “religious sentiments” (Hill & Hood, 1999, p 119)

• Intrinsic-extrinsic scale to measure different religious orientations

• Intrinsically religious – internalize and live their religion, and their religious

motivation is found at the very core of his or her being.

• Extrinsically religious – use religion as a means for a different end, such as:

security, justification, sociability, distraction, or status; and that their motives for being religious rest on social or external values (Genia, 1998).

Problem

• Novel and lacking research– The relationship between religious orientation and

sociocultural influences of body image.

• Limited research – Investigating the interactions between the sociocultural

and protective factors that intrinsic religious orientation may provide for young women.• (Boyatzis, et al., 2007; Jacobs-Pilipski et al., 2005; Mahoney et al., 2005)

 

• Health and wellness education at private religious high schools and colleges.– Moral communities (Johnson & Mullins, 2006).

– Understand the literature of Allport’s religious orientation:

• Extrinsic Religious Orientation - Health-compromising

• Intrinsic Religious Orientation - Health-promoting – (Forthun, 2003; Hathaway & Pargament, 1990)

• Educators at religious institutions may become more aware of and focus on the risk factors associated with body image dissatisfaction.

Sociocultural Theory

• Mass Media

• Strongest conveyors sociocultural assumptions– (Stice et al., 1994)

•Religious Orientation:

– Intrinsic Religious Orientation

• Protective factor for:

– Health disparities (e.g., alcohol abuse, depression)

– Negative societal influences regarding physical appearance?

– Extrinsic Religious Orientation• Health-compromising traits: anxiety, insecurity, and self-righteousness.

– (Forthun, 2003; Koenig et al., 1998)

Research Questions

•What is the relationship between religious orientation and body image concerns among college female students?

•What is the relationship between religious orientation and the “thin body ideal” among college female students?

•What is the relationship between body image concerns and the “thin body ideal” among college female students?

•What is the relationship between religious orientation, body image concerns and the “thin body ideal” among college female students?

Procedures

Variables• Independent Variables– Religious Orientation

• Intrinsic Religious Orientation• Extrinsic Religious Orientation

• Dependent Variables– Sociocultural attitudes towards appearance

• Internalization General• Internalization Athletic• Media as Pressure• Media as Knowledge

– Body Image Concerns• Appearance Orientation• Appearance Evaluation• Overweight Preoccupation• Self-Classified Weight

Religious Orientation Scale Subscale 

 Define

 Scored

 Intrinsic ReligiousOrientation (Continuous)

*Cronbach’s alphas in the mid .80s

 

 Lives his or her religion not for their own purposes.

 High scores suggest a high degree on intrinsic religious orientation.

Low scores suggest a low degree of intrinsic religious orientation. 

Extrinsic Religious Orientation (Continuous)

* Cronbach’s alphas in the mid .70s

Uses his or her religion for their own purpose (i.e., security, justification, sociability)

High scores suggest a high degree of extrinsic religious orientation.

Low scores suggest a low degree of extrinsic religious orientation. 

     

Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire- Appearance Scales Subscale 

 Define

 Scored

 Appearance Evaluation (Continuous)*Cronbach’s alphas .88

 Individual’s reported feelings of attractiveness & satisfaction with ones looks.

 High scores suggest positive satisfaction with their appearance. Low scores suggest dissatisfaction with their appearance.

 Appearance Orientation(Continuous)

*Cronbach’s alphas .85

 Extent of investment in one’s appearance.

 High scorers place more importance on how they look and engage in extensive grooming behaviors. Low scorers, their looks are not as important to them & they don’t expend much effort to look good.

 Overweight Preoccupation (Continuous)

*Cronbach’s alphas .76

 Reflects fat anxiety, weight vigilance, dieting and eating restraints.

 

High scores have high preoccupation with being overweight.

Low scorers have a low preoccupation with being overweight. 

Self-Classified Weight (Continuous)*Cronbach’s alphas .89

Reflects how one perceives and labels ones weight, from very underweight to very perception.

A mean score of 3 reflects a normal weight perception.

Higher scores reflect overweight over-weight perceptions.

Low scores reflect underweight perceptions.

Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3

  Subscale 

 Define

 Scored

 Internalization – General(Continuous)

*Cronbach’s alphas .92

 Degree to which one internalizes the societal emphasis of media influence related to TV, magazines and movies on appearance.

 High scores suggest a high degree of internalization. Low scores suggest a low degree.

 Internalization – Athletic(Continuous)

*Cronbach’s alphas .89

 

Degree to which one internalizes the societal influence of athletic and sport figures on appearance. 

 Same as above

Pressure(Continuous)

*Cronbach’s alphas .94

Degree of pressure one feels from the media to conform to appearance standards.

High scores suggest high degree of pressure one feels from the media to conform.

Low scores suggest low degree to conform.

Knowledge (Continuous)

*Cronbach’s alphas .94

Degree to which one uses the media as a knowledge informational source on body image.

High scores suggest a high degree of the use of media as an information source.

Low scores suggest a low degree.

Demographics Variable 

  

 n

 %

 M

 SD

Age  18192021222324

 4646474731104

 19.919.920.320.313.44.31.7

20.1 1.55

Class  FreshmenSophomoreJuniorSenior

 70445067

 30.319.021.628.9

2.5 1.2

Residence  CommuterOn-Campus

 90140

 38.860

1.6 .49

Religion  LutheranRoman CatholicProtestantMuslimNo ReligionOther 

 141441411019

 61.619.26.44.38.3

2.05 1.87

Demographics (continued)

Ethnicity  White, Non-HispanicBlack/African-AmericanHispanicAsian-Pacific Islander

 18718241

 80.67.810.4.4

1.3 .67

Income  Under $25,000$25,000 - $39,000$40,000 - $49,000$50,000 - $ 74,000$75,000 - $99,999$100,000 - $124,999$125,000 – 149,999Over $150,000 

 223428424231176

 10.015.412.719.018.614.07.72.7

4.07 1.88

BMI  Below 18.518.5 – 24.925 – 29.930 or greater

 71266434

 3.054.527.714.7

24.8 5.0

 Variable 

  

 n

 %

 Mean

 SD

Descriptive Statistics of Study Variables (N=231) Variable    Min  Max  Mean  SD

 

 Religious Orientation  

  

   

  Intrinsic Extrinsic

1.0 1.0

5.0 4.82

3.56 2.49

.832 .679 

Body Image Concerns       

 Appearance Orientation Appearance Evaluation Overweight Preoccupation Self-Classified Weight

1.08 1.14 1.0 1.50

5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0

3.46 3.23 2.65 3.36

.664 .810 .916 .715 

Sociocultural Attitudes        

 Media as Information Media as Pressure Internalization – Athletic Internalization – General 

1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

4.56 5.0 5.0 5.0

2.96 3.31 3.27 3.11

.915 1.00 .913 .942

Results

Correlation - Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religious Orientation

Extrinsic Religious Orientation

Intrinsic Religious Orientation -.497**

Hypotheses 1:Female college students who report higher scores of

intrinsic religiosity will have lower body image concerns.

Appearance Orientation

Appearance Evaluation

Overweight Preoccupation

Self-Classified Weight

Intrinsic Religious Orientation

-.119 .195** -.192** .052

Correlation MatrixIntrinsic Religious Orientation & Body Image Concerns Subscales

Hypothesis 2:Female college students who report higher scores of extrinsic religious orientation will have higher body image concerns.

Appearance Orientation

Appearance Evaluation

Overweight Preoccupation

Self-Classified Weight

Extrinsic Religious Orientation

.296** -.113 .236** .022

Correlation MatrixExtrinsic Religious Orientation & Body Image Concerns Subscales

Hypothesis 3: Female college students who report higher scores of intrinsic

religiosity will have lower sociocultural influence scores.

Correlation Matrix Intrinsic Religious Orientation & Sociocultural Attitudes Subscales

Information Pressure Internalization Athletic

Internalization General

Intrinsic Religious Orientation

-.197* .064 -.082 -.225**

Hypothesis 4: Female college students who report higher scores of extrinsic

religiosity will have higher sociocultural attitudes scores.

Correlation Matrix Extrinsic Religious Orientation & Sociocultural Attitudes Subscales

Information Pressure Internalization Athletic

Internalization General

Extrinsic Religious Orientation

.193** .096 .125 .181**

Hypothesis 5:Female college students who report higher sociocultural attitudes scores

will have higher positive body image concerns.

Correlation Matrix Sociocultural Attitudes Subscales & Body Image Concerns Subscales

Appearance Orientation

Appearance Evaluation

Overweight Preoccupation

Self-Classified Weight

Information .361** -.180* .270** .061

Pressure .393** -.488** .618** .288**

Internalization Athletic

.164* -.261** .305** .078

Internalization General

.436** -.426** .575** .096

Note. ** p < .01 * p < .05

• Hypothesis 6:

Higher levels of intrinsic religious orientation scores and lower levels of sociocultural attitudes scores will predict lower body image concerns in female college students.

• Hypothesis 7:

Higher levels of extrinsic religious orientation scores and higher levels of sociocultural attitudes scores will predict higher body image concerns in female college students.

Correlation Matrix among Dependent Body Image Concerns Subscales & Demographic Variables

 Variables 

 Age

 Class

 Residence

 Religion

 Ethnicity

 BMI

 Income

 AppearanceOrientation .029 .058 -.091

.130* -.017 .022 .014

 AppearanceEvaluation -.013 .084 .022 .031

.201**

.432** .063

 Overweight-Preoccupation .068 .137* -.096 .126 -.103 .344** .039 Self-ClassifiedWeight 

 .103

 .127

  -.020 

.021 

-.032 

.755** 

-.081 

 Note. ** p < .01 * p < .05

 

Hierarchal Regression Analysis – Dependent variable Appearance Orientation

 Variables

 ΔR2

 B

 Sig

 95% CI 

 Step 1 Religion

.017   .130 .048 [.004, 1.108]

 Step 2 Religion Extrinsic

.078   

.272 .282

.144 .000

[-.138, .934] [.167, .435]

 Step 3 Extrinsic Information Pressure Internalization athletic Internalization general

.175         

.212 .123 .166 -.090 .230

.000 .093 .073 .173 .023

[.098, .347] [-.021, .259] [-.018, .396] [-.382, .069] [.008, .357]

 Total R2

 .270

  

     Note. B = Standardized

Hierarchal Regression Analysis – Dependent Variable Appearance Evaluation

 Variables

 ΔR2

 B

 Sig

 95% CI 

 Step I BMI

.186   -.432 .000 [-.626, -.367]

 Step II BMI Intrinsic

.038  

-.431 .194

.000 .001

[-.623, -.370] [.064, .233]

 Step III BMI Intrinsic Information Pressure Internalization athletic Internalization general

.177            

-.367 .135 .129 -.241 -.035 -.265

.000 .013 .060 .008 .556 .006

[-.536, -.294] [.022, .183] [-.005, .172] [-.344, -.060] [-.195, .091] [-.280, -.025]

 Total R2

 .401       

  Note. B = Standardized

   

  

 

Hierarchal Regression Analysis – Dependent Variable Overweight Preoccupation Variables 

 ΔR2

 B

 Sig

 95% CI

 Step I BMI Class

.125    

-.331 .080

.000 .206

[.151, .334] [-.135,.623]

 Step II BMI Class Intrinsic Extrinsic

.052        

.309 .092 -.124 .142

.000 .137 .078 .045

[.137, .317] [-.090, .652] [-128, .007] [.001, .139]

 Step III BMI Class Intrinsic Extrinsic Information Pressure Internalization athletic Internalization general

.328                

 .238 .019 -.052 .107 -.171 .350 -.009 .377

.000 .708 .358 .050 .006 .000 .867 .000

 [-.536, -.294] [ .132 , .358] [-.080 .029] [-.002, .107] [-.131, -.022] [.097, .271] [-.093, .079] [.088, .239]

 Total R2

 .505       

 Note. B = Standardized        

Hierarchal Regression Analysis – Dependent variable Self-Classified Weight

 Variables 

 ΔR2

 B

 Sig

 95% CI

 Step I BMI

.570   .755 .000 [.737, .241]

 Step II BMI Pressure

.014

    

.727 .121

.000 .006

[.183, .233]  [.007, .042]

 Total R2  

.584 

       

 Note. B = Standardized

        

Conclusions

Intrinsic Religious Orientation• Consistently correlated with less influence from sociocultural attitudes towards appearance

and greater body image satisfaction. • Correlations mild to moderately significant, in support of the research hypothesis. • May promote:

– healthy sense of self-worth independent of the sociocultural attitudes towards appearance that can lead to body image dissatisfaction.

– thinking of the body as holy and sacred and provides a cognitive framing that can enhance body image

(Boyatzis et al, 2007).

• Explain only a small amount of the variance in only Appearance Evaluation. • KEY

– Religious supporters need to look at and understand all the dimensions of body image and the sociocultural influences when educating girls and young women on body image satisfaction and its influences .

Extrinsic Religious Orientation

• Consistently correlated with more influence from sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and body image dissatisfaction in female college students.

• Correlations were mild to moderately significant and in support of most of the research hypothesis.

• Explained some of the variance in Appearance Orientation and Overweight Preoccupation.

• Surprising were the results from the correlation and regression results of extrinsic religious orientation due to lack of focus.

• May lack any guiding principles over the influences of sociocultural attitudes towards appearance that can promote dissatisfaction with one’s own body.

• Can be associated with a way of construction a worldly view on body image that can lead to dissatisfaction.

Sociocultural Variables• Sociocultural variables were significantly correlated with body

image concerns.

• Internalization general explained the majority of variance in body image concerns.

– The societal emphasis of appearance through media related influences, such as TV, magazines, and movies were found to place more importance on their looks, feel less satisfied with their appearance and were more likely to be preoccupied with being overweight.

– Results, consistent with other studies

Demographic Variables

• Carefully chosen

– Significant correlations

– Explained most of the variance:

• appearance evaluation, overweight preoccupation and self- classified weight.

• Women with a higher BMI felt lower feelings of attractiveness and lower satisfaction with one’s looks, were more likely to diet and carryout excessive eating restraints and labeled themselves as overweight.

• Results, consistent with other studies

Limitations & DelimitationsStudy is limited to:

•Self - report may lead to social desirability bias in respondents.

•Not experimental.

Study is delimited to:

•College aged students enrolled at the university used for this study.

•Research of female’s self-reported measures of the study variables.

Future Research• Provide some support for the relationship between religious orientation and the

sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and body image satisfaction.

• Theory driven research and validated measures of religiosity. • Results may foster new ideas and growth within the field of psychology and

religion.

• A similar study with a diverse religious and ethnic sample (secular institution). • Scale that measure religious development. • Longitudinal research comparing a religious sample and a secular sample. • Participants could be followed from middle school through their college years.

References• Boyatzis, C., Kline, S., & Backof, S. (2007). Experimental Evidence that Theistic- Religious

Body Affirmations Improve Women's Body Image. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46 (4) 553 - 564.

• Boyatzis, C. J., & McConnell, K. M. (2006) Quest orientation in young women: Age trends during emerging adult and relations to body image an disordered eating. Internal Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 16(3), 197 - 207.

• Forthun, L. F., Pidcock B. W. & Fisher J. L. (2003). Religiousness and disordered eating: does religiousness modify family risk? Eating Behaviors, 4 (1) 7 – 26.

• Hathaway, W., & Pargament, K. (1990). Intrinsic religiousness, religious coping, and psychosocial competence: A covariance structure analysis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29, 423-441.

• Jacobs - Pilipski, M. J., Winzelberg, A., Wilfey, D. E., Bryson, S. W., & Barr, T. C. (2005). Spirituality among young women at risk for eating disorders. Eating Behaviors, 6(4) 293 – 300.

References (continued)• Johnson, M.A., & Mullins, P. (2006). Moral communities: Religious and secular. Journal of

Community Psychology, 18(2) 153 – 166.

• Liftin, D. (2004). Conceiving the Christian College. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

• Mahoney, A., Carels, R. A., Pargament, K. I., Wachholtz, A., Leeper, L. E., Kaplar, M., & Frutchey, R. (2005). The sanctification of the body and behavioral health patterns of college students. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15(3), 221-238.

 • Morrison, T. G., (2004). Body-image evaluation and body-image investment among adolescents: a

test of sociocultural and social comparison theories. Adolescence, 39, 573-91.

• Stice, E., Schupak-Neuberg, E., Shaw, H. E., & Stein, R. I. (1994). Relation of media exposure to eating disorder symptomatology: An examination of mediating mechanisms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 836-840.  

• Tiggemann, M., & Pickering, A. S. (1996). Role of television in adolescent women's body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 20, 199 - 203.