Thinspiration and Fear of Fat

Thinspiration and Fear of Fat

Researchers have looked at thinspiration and fear of fat. In our modern society, the female ideal has been promoted by the media as thin. Thus, many girls and women strive to be skinny, with sometimes deleterious consequences, such as in eating pathology such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Usually, thinspiration is defined as imagery depicting fit and/or thin models designed to upheld one’s desire and goal to remain or become thin. Also, such images should be inspirational in upkeeping the efforts to be thin, such as controlling one’s food intake and exercise. However, while many behavioural extremes such as consuming less than 400 calories a day, are seen in people suffering from an eating disorder, such behaviours in moderation may be seen in fit and healthy people desiring to lead a health-conscious lifestyle.

Fear of Fat. Photo by Elena

Psychologists use many instruments in computing social phenomena. As psychology is a social science, the results may not always involve an experimental laboratory and also are prone to debate. Unlike the hard sciences, most subjects in behavioural science remain debatable, even though consensus often arises from diverse studies. Although self-report measures carry their limitations, some of the questionnaires designed to operationalize eating disorders and related phenomena include:

• The Eating Disorder Inventory-II (EDI-II)
• The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ)
• The Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ)

Thus, as is often the case in psychology, a major debate surrounds eating disorders, with many scholars questioning why whereas the thin ideal is promoted by the media to everyone, only certain members of the general population develop eating disorders despite ubiquitous exposure. The literature seems to point to internalization of the thin ideal as a mediating factor in developing an eating disorder. Even though some defy psychology’s status as a science, it does use the scientific method, with calculation and analysis of results, such as the ANOVA statistical tool, although psychology remains a social science and not a pure and applied science.