Abstract
This study investigated the interrelationships between weight, weight dissatisfaction, restraint, and self-esteem in a group of young adult women and men. The subjects were students at the Flinders University of South Australia, whose student body consists of primarily local students from English-speaking backgrounds. A tentative causal model proposed actual overweight to lead to body dissatisfaction, which causes the person to diet, with the resulting failures leading to loss of self-esteem. This model was confirmed by path analysis for women, but not for men. In line with self-concept theory, subjective overweight was more strongly related to self-esteem for women than for men, with restraint mediating this relationship.
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This research was supported by an Australian Research Council Grant.
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Tiggemann, M. Gender differences in the interrelationships between weight dissatisfaction, restraint, and self-esteem. Sex Roles 30, 319–330 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01420596
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01420596