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Exposure to the thin beauty ideal: Are there subliminal priming effects?
Author(s) -
Leins Judith,
Waldorf Manuel,
Suchan Boris,
Diers Martin,
Herpertz Stephan,
Paslakis Georgios,
SteinsLoeber Sabine
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.23461
Subject(s) - subliminal stimuli , psychology , attractiveness , beauty , priming (agriculture) , unconscious mind , cognitive psychology , prime (order theory) , association (psychology) , presentation (obstetrics) , affect (linguistics) , audiology , developmental psychology , medicine , psychotherapist , communication , aesthetics , psychoanalysis , philosophy , botany , germination , radiology , biology , mathematics , combinatorics
Objective Previous research suggested that exposure to the thin beauty ideal propagated by the media is associated with body dissatisfaction and the development of disordered eating. Given recent suggestions regarding the role of automatic processes, we aimed to enhance our understanding of automatic, unconscious responses to body pictures and the association with the internalization of the thin ideal and the severity of eating disorder symptoms. Method An affective priming task with body pictures of different weight as primes and a normal‐weight body picture as target, which had to be evaluated with regard to attractiveness and desirability, was administered to healthy women with either subliminal prime presentation (Experiment 1) or conscious presentation (Experiment 2). Results Subliminal presentation did not affect the evaluation of the normal‐weight target, although strength of evaluative shifts was significantly associated with internalization of the thin ideal. In contrast, the conscious presentation of the ultra‐thin prime decreased and of the obese prime increased desirability and attractiveness ratings of the target. Discussion Prevention strategies focusing on the critical evaluation of the thin ideal are important. Future studies are warranted to enhance our understanding of automatic, unconscious processes in women experiencing eating disorders.