Date of Award

Spring 2023

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Major

Psychology

First Advisor

Randolph Lee

Second Advisor

Brian Chin

Abstract

Previous research states that disordered eating is a growing and concerning issue. With the rise in disordered eating, there has been a consistent rise of the media, especially in reports of time spent online. The key to understanding, and hopefully ending, the development of disordered eating may lie in understanding the media, and how it influences a need for perfection and the necessity of a thin-body ideal. To examine this, 83 students at Trinity College completed a questionnaire consisting of questions from the Eating Disorder Inventory -3 (EDI-3) and modified questions from the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale - 3 (SATAQ-3). Analyses of averages, bivariate correlations and multiple linear regression analyses were done to measure the presence of disordered eating at Trinity College, the strength of its correlation to the media-influenced thin body ideal, and potential factors mediating these findings. It was found that disordered eating is significantly present on college campuses and there is a significant correlation between disordered eating symptoms and an internalized thin body-ideal from the media. Gender, Greek life involvement, and athletic involvement were all tested as moderating factors of this relationship, and only gender and Greek life involvement were found to be significant moderators of the correlation between an internalized thin-body ideal from the media and disordered eating symptoms.

Comments

Senior Thesis completed at Trinity College, Hartford CT for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

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