GENDER AND CULTURE DIFFERENCES: BULIMIA Ms. Carmelitano

Bell Ringer

Prevalence of Bulimia  Total: 5 million people in the United States are believed to have an eating disorder  Men: %  Women: 2-3%  According to Frude (1998) the female: male ratio of Bulimia is 10:1

Gender Differences  Research has shown that the differences of Bulimia in males and females may be due to the difference in perception of body image between males and females  Research shows that women have more of a perception distortion than men

Fallon and Rozin 1985  U.S. undergraduates were shown figures of their own sex  They were asked to indicate:  1. which figures looked most like their own shape  2. which figure looked like their ideal figure  3. which figure they thought would be most attractive to the opposite sex  Results:  Men selected similar figures for all three trials  Women chose ideal and attractive body shapes that were much thinner than the shape they indicated as most like their shape  The shapes women chose as being most attractive to men were much thinner than those that the men chose as most attractive

Gender Diferences  It is believed that women are more likely to suffer from an eating disorder because of the media pressure to be thin  However, media is also beginning to impact men to attain a perfect “worked out” body  1993 MORI survey (Marketing research company in the UK)  Surveyed adult males in the UK  The survey reported that 1/3 of men had been on a diet  The survey reported that 2/3 of the men believed he needed to change his weight to be more attractive to women

Cultural Differences  Eating disorders are more prevalent in industrialized countries  Tehran, Iran Bulimia prevalence rates are 3.2% (Non-western)  The prevalence rate in Japan is 5.79% (Westernized)  There has been a rise in the reporting of eating disorders in recent years throughout Europe, the United States, and Japan – which may be due to the increased media presence in these countries

Jaeger et al 2002  Aim: To investigate body dissatisfaction dependant on cultural differences  It was once postulated that eating disorders were a western culture-bond syndrome  Participants: 1751 medical and nursing students were sampled from 12 different nations; both western and non-western  (Natural study since culture (IV) could not be controlled)

Jager et al  Procedure:  10 body silhouettes were shown to participants  The BMI (body mass index) of each participant was measured  Participants were then asked to judge which silhouettes the participants disliked  Findings:  Mediterranean countries had the most extreme body dissatisfaction  Northern European countries followed Mediterranean countries  Countries being westernized had an intermediate amount of body dissatisfaction  Non-western countries showed the lowest level of body dissatisfaction  Body dissatisfaction was independent of self-esteem and BMI

Jager et al conclusions  Conclusions:  The differences between cultures support the explanation that bulimia is due to the “idealized” body images portrayed by the media This causes girls to develop distorted schemas as far as what their body should look like This encourages unhealthy dieting behavior  Western countries are more exposed to media images than non-westernized  As countries westernize, they are increasingly exposed to these western images  This means that the disorder may be rooted in society rather than within the individual

Nasser 1986  Aim: To study the chances of developing an eating disorder after westernizing  Procedure:  Gathered 50 Egyptian women studying in Cairo and London Universities  The women had all been raised in Egypt  Compared the prevalence of eating disorders in girls between the two universities  12% of women attending school in London reported having experienced an eating disorder  0% of those in universities in Cairo suffered from eating disorder  Conclusion  This shows that culture plays an important role on the etiology of eating disorders

Mumford 1991  Procedure:  Surveyed young women attending Bradford University who were raised in Asian cultures  Findings show that concerns about weight and body shape were more commonly found among those girls who used Asian languages and wore Asians dress  However:  Mumford concluded that the more traditional Asian girls might be experiencing greater internal conflict about their identity as they grew up within two sets of cultural values  The eating disorder may be a result of feelings of loss of control rather than cultural norms