SOCIAL-CONTEXT, GENDER IDENTITY AND EATING DISORDERS IN WESTERN AND EASTERN-EUROPE - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS OF A COMPARATIVE-STUDY

The present paper reports preliminary results of a pilot study carried out on two samples of females living in two different European countr ies. The onset of eating disorders is considered to result from female s' difficulties in developing a gender-specific identity in a specific social context that provides and supports certain ideals, interperson al relationships, and attitudes toward them. Thirty-five German female s and 20 Bulgarians have been questioned about the way they perceive t hemselves, the social ideal, the attractivity in women, the problem of individuation and separation, autonomy and social relationship in gen eral. The results indicate that certain social models are more likely to induce identity conflicts in the German sample than in the Bulgaria n one.