IS BODY FOCUS RESTRICTED TO SELF-EVALUATION - BODY FOCUS IN THE EVALUATION OF SELF AND OTHERS

Objective: Clinicians have suggested that the core pathology of the ea ting disorders is an extreme body focus in self-evaluation. This study investigated whether women who focus on their own bodies place a simi lar focus on body shape when evaluating others and expect others to ha ve a strong body focus in their self-evaluations. Method: Eighty-four undergraduate women completed the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), whi ch largely measures body focus in self-evaluation. Each was also shown a series of photographs of women and asked what aspects of the photos they first noticed and how the depicted women felt about themselves. Finally, each responded to scenarios in which they or a hypothetical w oman overate or dieted. Results: High EAT-26 scores were associated wi th an elevated number of ''fat'' or ''thin'' feelings attributed to wo men in the slides and a marginally greater number of body-related obse rvations made about the slides. High EAT-26 scores were also associate d with inferred negative feelings of others after overeating and posit ive feelings of others after dieting. In fact the relationships betwee n EAT-26 scores and feelings in response to hypothetical overeating an d dieting situations were no stronger when applied to the self than wh en applied to others. However, when presented with a situation in whic h they overate, participants showed stronger relationships between the ir EAT-26 scores and their expected weight change and dieting behavior than they predicted would occur for others after an identical period of overeating. Discussion: Extrapolating findings to a clinical popula tion, women with eating disorders may focus on others' body shapes as well as their own. These women may also expect others to be as emotion ally invested in their own body shapes as they are themselves, but may not expect others to be as prone to gain weight or to diet as strictl y as they do. Treatment for this somewhat recalcitrant belief system i s discussed, as are directions for future research. (C) 1996 by John W iley & Sons, Inc.