Title:
The relations among body image, religious affiliation, religious orientation measures, and gender
Author:
Lillian Audette
Thesis Advisor:
Marianna E. Carlucci
Committee Member:
Matthew W. Kirkhart
Committee Member:
Carolyn M. Barry
Committee Member:
Amanda M. Thomas
Committee Member:
Sam A. Hardy
Degree Granting Institution:
Loyola University Maryland--College of Arts and Sciences
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Loyola University Maryland
Date Created:
2017
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
born digital
Abstract:
Body dissatisfaction is a too-common issue in American women, with high average levels of dissatisfaction. It is also a rising issue with American men, although their average body satisfaction remains higher than women's. Religiousness has been linked to body satisfaction. For example, women's body satisfaction has been positively related to personal religiosity and intrinsic religious orientation, and negatively related to extrinsic and quest religious orientations. The work on the relation between men's body satisfaction and religiousness is less clear, with a few studies reporting contradictory findings. A previous latent profile analysis of a large sample of American college students, both men and women, found three latent religious classes: high intrinsic and quest religious orientation (intrinsic/quest class) high extrinsic religious orientation (extrinsic class), and moderate religiosity (moderate class). The present study attempts to extend the current literature by examining whether the three religious classes are related to participants' body image, and whether that proposed relation is moderated by gender or religious affiliation. Specifically, we hypothesized that intrinsic/quest class would be related to the most positive body image scores, and extrinsic class would be related to the most negative. We also predicted gender would moderate the relation between religious class and body image, such that intrinsic/quest would be more beneficial for women, and extrinsic would be more harmful for women. Finally, we tentatively predicted that evangelicals would have a more positive relation between intrinsic/quest class and body image. We found that religious class was significantly related to participants' body image scores. However, moderate class had the highest mean body image scores, then intrinsic/quest class. As predicted, extrinsic class had the lowest body image scores. Results were consistent with previous results that men had more positive body image scores than women, regardless of religious class. Further, the religious affiliation did not influence the relation between religious class and body image. Overall the findings are supportive, as previous studies have been, that religious variables are important for emerging adults' body image. The current study also tentatively suggests that the previous findings relating religious variables to body image for women might be extended to men, as the current study's men demonstrated the same relation between religious class and body image scores as the current study's women.
Degree:
Master of Science
Level:
Master
Discipline:
Counseling Psychology
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online.
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Identifier:
AudetteL-17
