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The role of memory in the relationship between attention toward thin-ideal media and body dissatisfaction

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined the causal relationship between attention and memory bias toward thin-body images, and the indirect effect of attending to thin-body images on women’s body dissatisfaction via memory.

Method

In a 2 (restrained vs. unrestrained eaters) × 2 (long vs. short exposure) quasi-experimental design, female participants (n = 90) were shown images of thin models for either 7 s or 150 ms, and then completed a measure of body dissatisfaction and a recognition test to assess their memory for the images.

Results

Both restrained and unrestrained eaters in the long exposure condition had better recognition memory for images of thin models than did those in the short exposure condition. Better recognition memory for images of thin models was associated with lower body dissatisfaction. Finally, exposure duration to images of thin models had an indirect effect on body dissatisfaction through recognition memory.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that memory for body-related information may be more critical in influencing women’s body image than merely the exposure itself, and that targeting memory bias might enhance the effectiveness of cognitive bias modification programs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Professor Michelle Moulds for her valuable contribution to this research.

Conflict of interest

Michelle Y. W. Jiang and Lenny R. Vartanian declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Michelle Y. W. Jiang & Lenny R. Vartanian

Authors
  1. Michelle Y. W. Jiang
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  2. Lenny R. Vartanian
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle Y. W. Jiang.

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Jiang, M.Y.W., Vartanian, L.R. The role of memory in the relationship between attention toward thin-ideal media and body dissatisfaction. Eat Weight Disord 21, 57–64 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-015-0196-x

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