Eating Disorders May Plague Conformists

There is a new reason to coach your children on the dangers of peer pressure and the importance of sticking to their own values: a study has identified an association between young women who tend to be conformists and eating disorders.

The study reports that women who strive to meet the expectations and others and have a tendency to be a follower are more likely to have problems with an unrealistic body image and symptoms of eating disorders.

The study, published in the journal Body Image, also highlights the importance of strong social networks. Young women who are supported by a strong social network are less likely to conform and less likely to show eating disorder symptoms.

The participants were 300 American college students. The students gave information about their age, height and weight. They also completed questions that asked about their social networks, conformity, and body image and identified whether they had experienced symptoms associated with eating disorders.

The students were also questioned about perceived social standards for body image and attractiveness. The researchers tried to establish whether the young women had internalized the standards and used them as a measure against themselves.

The study was led by Dr. Lenny R Vartanian of the UNSW School of Psychology. Vartanian explained that the identification of a connection between conformist tendencies and eating disorders may provide an opportunity for therapy to treat young women.
The report explains that conformity is often an effort to gain social acceptance. Having strong social connections is important for psychological health, and where a person is not accepted there may be signs of poor psychological health.
Young women should feel less obligated to conform once they have found security in a social network, the study says, which should make them less likely to internalize societal standards of attractiveness. Once their security is established, they should be less likely to struggle with body image and the resulting symptoms of eating disorders.
Security within a social network helps an individual to feel valued for internal qualities and helps take the focus away from physical attractiveness and body dissatisfaction. However, young women who struggle with a identified sense of self may still struggle, even in a strong social network.
The study’s results may be limited by its use of a small sample of female college students. Female college students are at a higher risk for developing body dissatisfaction and eating disorders than other population groups. Further research may be required to confirm the results found here.
 

Tags: conformity