THE SUPERWOMAN IDEAL AND OTHER RISK-FACTORS FOR EATING DISTURBANCES IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between disordered eating, the Superwoman ideal, competitiveness, and achievem ent motivation. The EAT-26, Personality Research Form (Achievement sca le), and Self-Roles Inventory were administered to 69 10-12th-grade gi rls (69.6% White, 11.6% Hispanic, 5.8% Black, 5.8% Asian, 7.2% no info rmation on ethnicity). EAT-26 scores were not significantly associated with attending an academically competitive high school, having a high achievement motivation, or considering a number of roles as important to one's sense of self (adherence to the Superwoman ideal). EAT-26 sc ores were significantly higher among the girls attending the average h igh school. It is important to conduct further investigations of the S uperwoman ideal since it has been posited as a risk factor for eating disorders, but has been the focus of only a few empirical studies.