psychological explantions for anorexia nervosa - social learnign theory Flashcards
modelling
anorexia can be acquired indirectly through observation of a model
individual who provides a template for behaviour that the observer can imitate
model can be real life or online
modify social norms by establishing what is acceptable or usual behaviour in a situation
especially inferential if a chill identifies with eh model
vicarious reinforcement
likelihood of imitation depends mainly on observing the positive or negative consequences of the behaviour
if a model is rewarded this makes imitation more likely
observer receives reindfrocemnt indirectly
role of the media
provides symbolic models
transmitter or cultural ideals about body shapes and size
ideal body has become thinner - size zero often presented as the body shape women should aspire for
young women may identify with the female clebrities and fashion models
might motivate them to behave in ways that help them t lose weight and achieve thinness
behaviour could be vicariously reinforced by the rewarding fame success wealth respectable nod satisfaction they observe in female role models in the media
research on slt anf an
Dittmar et al
influence of a common model of the thin ideal - barbie
if barbie was scaled up to human size her wast would be 39% smaller than most women with an
42% of the UK women opened a barbie when they were children
procedure
162 british girls
age 5 - 8
divided into 3 groups
all exposed to images of wither barbie dolls emme dolls or control images of flowers balloons and clothes
gail’s asked to rate statements about they body esteem
extent of their body shape dissatsafaction was assessed by them collaring in two body silhpittes
one they thought represented their body shape and another representing what they wanted to be
fidngns
girls who saw barbie images were ignorantly more dissatisfied with their body shape and has dignifantly lower body esteem than girls who saw emme or control images
researchers concluded that the barbie doll is a powerful aspirational model for young girls
internalise the thin ideal that barbie represents
initiates the body dissatisfaction that many lead to eating disorders such as AN
strength
research support
natural experiment on Fiji
becker et al
investigated the effects of the introduction of TV broadcasts on eating attitudes and behaviours
sample of 63 adolescent females completed a questionnaire
in 1995 when to broadcasts first began in fiji
another sample of 65 girls completed the same questionnaire three years later
in 1995 13% of the girls;s gained a high score on the questionnaire indicating an eating disorder risk
corresponding figure in 1998 was 29%
girls may have been influenced by ideals of the female body shape transmitted through the media
shows that eating disorders can be the outcome of social leaning processes
strength
explains cultural changes
AN is less common in soem cultures than in others
situation is changing rapidly
exmaple - Chisuwa and O Dea
highlighted the increased rates of AN in japan over the past 40 years
researchers suggested that traditional values favouring plumpness as a sign of health have even displaced by the cultural thinness ideal
role of the media is illustrated that there is a greater occurrence of AN symptoms in young japanese women who regularly read magazine promoting the thinness ideal compared to those who don’t
shows that AN may be driven by processes such as modelling media representation of the ideal female body shape
limitation
no effective therapies
not led to effective threapies for AN
presenting models of healthy eating or body shape to someone with AN could be useful accompaniment to different therapy
not enough on its own to be successful
SLT derived themes are uncommon and rarely used
partial value is limited
