Sarah K. Murnen

Female athletes and eating problems: A meta‐analysis

OBJECTIVE The relationship between athletic participation and eating problems is examined using meta-analysis. Both the risk and protective elements of athletic participation are considered. METHOD Data from 34 studies were used to examine the overall relationship between athletic participation and eating problems. Relationships for specific sports, elite athletes, and various age groups are also examined. RESULTS Athletes appeared to be somewhat more at risk for eating problems than nonathletes. This was especially true of dancers. Significant effects did not emerge for gymnasts. Elite athletes, especially those in sports emphasizing thinness, were at risk. Nonelite athletes, especially in high school, had reduced risk of eating problems compared to controls. Body dissatisfaction was lower in athletes. CONCLUSION There appear to be circumstances under which sports participation by women constitutes a risk factor for certain elements of eating problems. In other situations, athletic participation may be protective against eating problems.

If “Boys Will Be Boys,” Then Girls Will Be Victims? A Meta-Analytic Review of the Research That Relates Masculine Ideology to Sexual Aggression

In feminist sociocultural models of rape, extreme adherence to the masculine gender role is implicated in the perpetuation of sexual assault against women in that it encourages men to be dominant and aggressive, and it teaches that women are inferior to men and are sometimes worthy of victimization. Many researchers have linked components of masculine ideology to self-reports of past sexual aggression or future likelihood to rape. Thirty-nine effect sizes were examined in this meta-analysis across 11 different measures of masculine ideology to determine how strongly each index of masculine ideology was associated with sexual aggression. Although 10 of the 11 effect sizes were statistically significant, the 2 largest effects were for Malamuths construct of “hostile masculinity” (e.g., Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, & Tanaka, 1991) and Moshers construct of “hypermasculinity” (e.g., Mosher & Sirkin, 1984), both of which measure multiple components of masculine ideology including acceptance of aggression against women and negative, hostile beliefs about women. The next strongest relationships concerned measures of agreement that men are dominant over women and measures of hostility toward women. Scores on general measures of gender-role adherence, such as the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974), were not strong predictors of sexual aggression. Sociocultural models that link patriarchal masculine id eology and situational factors to sexual aggression should prove most predictive in future research.

Sociocultural Influences and Muscle Building in Adolescent Boys

Sociocultural influences on the use of muscle-building techniques, particularly food supplement and steroid use, were examined in a sample of 383 middle-school boys. A modified version of the tripartite influence model was evaluated with muscle-building techniques as the dependent variable. Results indicated that media, peer, and parent influences were independently related to the use of muscle-building techniques. Each was also partially mediated by social comparison tendencies. A comparison of boys who used food supplements to build muscles with those who did not indicated differences in peer, parent, and media influences; social comparison tendencies; body esteem; and depression. A comparison of boys who used steroids to build muscles with those who did not use steroids yielded the same differences. Results indicate the importance of considering sociocultural factors in designing prevention programs for boys.

Femininity, masculinity, and disordered eating: A meta-analytic review

OBJECTIVE To understand the developmental psychopathology of eating disorders, it is crucial to explain the large gender discrepancy in the rates of these disorders, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. In this paper, meta-analysis was used to examine the relationship between gender role adherence and the existence of eating problems. METHOD Of the 69 studies examined, 22 contained data deemed valid for the analyses. Measures of difference (d) and homogeneity were calculated. These studies used the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) or the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to measure gender role adherence. RESULTS Findings indicated a small, heterogeneous positive relationship between femininity and eating problems and a small, heterogeneous negative relationship between masculinity and eating problems. Studies that used a clinical sample showed a larger discrepancy in masculinity scores between the eating-disordered and the control groups than did studies using surveys to identify eating problems. Six studies measured gender role traditionalism. The eating-disordered groups did not differ significantly on these measures compared to the control groups. DISCUSSION Despite construct validity problems with the use of the PAQ and the BSRI in this area of study, data suggest that gender role is related to eating problems. Crucial aspects of femininity likely to be related to eating problems need to be operationalized and their link to eating disorders examined.

Drive for leanness: Assessment and relationship to gender, gender role and objectification

Three components of body image - drive for thinness (DT), drive for muscularity (DM), and drive for leanness (DL) - were assessed in 232 college students. A new measure of DL was developed. Data suggested that the new scale yielded valid and reliable scores. The relationships of gender, gender norm endorsement, and self-objectification to DT, DM, and DL were examined. The surveillance subscale of the OBC Scale was related to DL, DT, and DM in men and to DL and DT in women. Gender norm endorsement, specifically romantic relationships, moderated the relationship of surveillance to DT in women. Gender norm endorsement was directly related to DM and DT in men. DLS appeared to measure a distinct component of body image. Feminine gender role was only related to DT while masculine gender role was related to DL, DT, and DM, raising important questions about the gender differences in body image.

Gender and Self-Reported Sexual Arousal in Response to Sexual Stimuli: A Meta-Analytic Review

Social constructionist theories and sociobiological perspectives have led to increased interest in gender differences in sexual behavior. This study involved a meta-analysis of gender differences in sexual arousal in response to sexual stimuli. Forty-six studies in which participants were presented with a sexual stimulus depicting males and females and in which participants responded using a self-report measure of arousal were compiled, and 62 independent effect sizes were aggregated. An overall effect size of d = .31 showed a small to moderate-sized gender difference in sexual arousal with men reporting more arousal than women across all studies. There was significant variation in the effect sizes, though, which was only partially explained by variables coded from the studies. It was found that the gender difference was slightly larger for studies using pornographic vs. erotic stimuli, was larger for studies where participants were tested in a private setting or small group compared to a large group, and was much larger for college age participants compared to those who were older than college age. Generally, the pattern of results provided more support for predictions from social influence theories compared to sociobiological theory.

The Experience of Sexual Harassment Among Grade-School Students: Early Socialization of Female Subordination?

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary school childrens interpretation of sexual harassment incidents and the relationship of those interpretations to self-esteem and body esteem. Eleven scenarios were read to 73 third- to fifth-grade children. Eight scenarios exemplified peer harassment. The children were asked how they thought the victim felt, what the victim should do, why the perpetrator did this, and whether something similar had ever happened to them. They also completed gender role, self-esteem, and body esteem scales. Results indicated that the majority of the children had experienced peer harassment and that the boys and girls had experienced about equal amounts. However, total harassment was negatively related to self-esteem in girls, but not boys. Furthermore, the childrens interpretations of the scenarios as well as the relationship of these interpretations to body and self-esteem indicated that the meaning of sexual harassment was different for the boys and girls. Girls were more likely to think the victim would be frightened and boys more likely to think that the victim would be flattered by the attention. Girls who reported that the victim would be frightened or that they did not know how the victim would react reported lower body esteem. These data are interpreted within the framework of sexual terrorism and sexual objectification theories. These data also underscore the need for additional research in sexual harassment among young children.

Sexualizing the Self What College Women and Men Think About and Do to Be “Sexy”

Self-sexualization refers to intentionally engaging in activities expressly to appear more sexually appealing. The purpose of our studies was to examine gender similarities and differences in how women and men conceptualize self-sexualization as well as introduce measures appropriate for large-scale data collection. In a qualitative study, we first established the existence of self-sexualization among women, although we were unable to document a similar construct among men. The Self-Sexualization Behavior Questionnaire for Women (SSBQ–W), developed over the course of three studies using samples from two small liberal arts colleges, demonstrated adequate internal consistency, stability, and construct validity. Discriminant validity for the SSBQ–W was demonstrated with the Surveillance subscale of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Sexualizing Behavior Scale, and the Enjoyment of Sexualization Scale. The SSBQ–W may especially be useful in addressing debates about the relationship of self-sexualization to sexual empowerment, agency, and oppression in young women. Additionally, our attempts to develop a parallel sound measure for men failed, and gender differences in item-by-item comparisons concluded that men are less likely to engage in specific self-sexualizing behaviors than women. These findings raise the possibility that self-sexualization is neither as meaningful nor as pervasive for men. In sum, our findings help to further refine how researchers and practitioners might best conceptualize self-sexualization, concluding that it is highly gendered activity that is largely confined to women and offering a measure for women that may promote further research.

GENDER AND THE USE OF SEXUALLY DEGRADING LANGUAGE

Based on feminist social constructionist theory, it was proposed that the sexual language women and men used would reflect male sexual power over women through degradation and objectification. In the first study, 79 women and 88 men (36 of whom were fraternity members) reported anonymously on the sexual language they used. The strongest effects found were that men (particularly those in a fraternity) were likely to use sexually degrading terms to refer to female genitals. Men were more likely than women to use aggressive terms to refer to copulation. In a second study, 56 women and 47 men college participants listened to a conversation between either two women or two men in which they were talking about having sex with someone they just met the night before. The speaker either used more degrading or less degrading language. In general, people judged anyone who used degrading language negatively. The person who was the object in the more degrading conversation compared to the less degrading conversation was judged as less intelligent and less moral. The results suggest that gender is associated with the sexual language people use, and that the degradation and objectification present in the sexual language men sometimes use might have harmful consequences on the person being objectified.

Body image and gender roles

American women and men are subjected to unrealistic body image ideals that exaggerate characteristics associated with femininity and masculinity: women are supposed to be ‘thin and sexy’ and men are supposed to be ‘strong and muscular’. These stereotyped ideals support gender-stereotyped social roles. Conformity to the ideal body for women is central to their ‘success’ as women, whereas conformity to the ideal body for men is associated with success, but not central to it. Working toward more flexible gender roles for both men and women should promote less body concern.