Open AccessSexual Victimization and Disordered Eating in Bisexual Women: A Test of Objectification Theory
Author(s) -
Samantha C. Holmes,
Alexis DaFonseca,
Dawn M. Johnson
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
violence against women
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.807
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1552-8448
pISSN - 1077-8012
DOI - 10.1177/1077801220963902
Subject(s) - shame , objectification , psychology , clinical psychology , disordered eating , test (biology) , developmental psychology , eating disorders , social psychology , philosophy , paleontology , epistemology , biology
The current study (a) ascertained whether there is a relationship between sexual victimization (SV) and disordered eating (DE) among bisexual women, (b) assessed whether objectification theory explains the relationship, and (c) tested for group differences between bisexual and heterosexual women on SV, DE, and other objectification theory variables. Utilizing a sample of 164 undergraduate bisexual women, there was a significant positive relationship between SV and DE that was serially mediated by self-surveillance and body shame. In addition, bisexual participants endorsed more SV, DE, body shame, and interoceptive deficits than a comparison sample of 335 undergraduate heterosexual women. Implications are discussed.