Abstract
Western acculturation has been implicated in the development of eating disorders among populations living outside Europe and North America. This study explored the relationship between Western acculturation, in-group/out-group evaluations and eating disorders symptoms among female citizens of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Emirati college women (N = 209) completed an affective priming task, designed to implicitly assess in-group (Emirati) and out-group (American) evaluations. Participants also completed the Westernization Survey, a widely used self-report measure of acculturation, and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). Across the whole sample, out-group positivity was correlated with higher levels of eating disorder symptoms. Participants classified as at risk for eating disorders showed a clear out-group preference (out-group positivity greater than in-group positivity). Western acculturation was also positively correlated with eating disorder symptoms. Overall, these findings lend further support to the acculturation hypothesis of eating disorders in the context of Emirati college women.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 241-246 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Eating and Weight Disorders |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 27 Mar 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2018 |
Research Groups and Themes
- Cognitive Science
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Keywords
- Acculturation
- Affective prime
- Arab
- Eating disorders
- Identity