An investigation of Inhibition of Return to Body Information in Young Women with High or Low Shape/Weight-Based Self-Worth

Abstract

Body image disturbance and disordered eating are widespread problems that are associated with a large number of serious physical and psychological consequences. Current cognitive models of body image disturbance and eating disorders emphasise the central role of an individual’s beliefs about the importance of their shape and weight for their self-worth in the development and maintenance of these problems. These beliefs are proposed to partially exert their impact through their effect on information processing. The current research program aimed to investigate differences in one component of attention, namely, attention maintenance regarding body stimuli in individuals who base their self-worth on their shape and weight, using an attentional cuing paradigm, Inhibition of Return (IOR). IOR is an operation of the visual system that inhibits attention from returning to previously attended locations to encourage attention to be directed to new locations. The first study hypothesised that young women who base their self-worth on their shape and weight would display attentional biases regarding thin-ideal and non-thin body images assessed using an attentional cueing paradigm measuring IOR. The results revealed that participants (n= 57) who do not base their self-worth on their shape/weight displayed less attention to non-thin body stimuli compared with control stimuli. This differential pattern of attention was not observed in participants who based their self-worth on their shape/weight. The second study employed the same spatial cuing paradigm measuring IOR to examine differences in attention for thin and non-thin body words, depending on level of shape/weight-based self-worth. It was found that participants (n = 105) who did not base their self-worth on their shape and weight displayed reduced IOR from non-thin body words compared with control words, whereas no difference was found for participants who based their self-worth on their shape/weight. In combination, the findings from Study One and Study Two revealed an opposite pattern for the processing on non-thin images versus non-thin words in young women with low levels of shape/weight-based self-worth. The third study provided an investigation of the effect of interpersonal rejection on attentional biases to thin-ideal and non-thin body images in young women (n = 90) with high and low levels of shape/weight-based self-worth. The results showed that despite the interpersonal rejection paradigm being effective in reducing self-esteem, it did not modify attentional biases. The results also replicated the findings from Study One in that, irrespective of acceptance/rejection condition, participants who did not base their self-worth on their shape/weight displayed increased IOR for non-thin body images. Overall, the findings of the current program of research indicate that young women who do not base their self-worth on their shape/weight display differential patterns of attention suggestive of reduced processing of non-thin body images and, possibly, increased processing of non-thin body words. This potentially adaptive pattern was not evident in young women who base their self-worth on their shape/weight. The pattern of results provides novel information regarding protective factors for body image disturbance and eating disorders, thereby suggesting refinements of theoretical models and potentially informing new directions in the prevention and treatment of these conditions.