Body Image 14 (2015) 85–93
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Body Image journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bodyimage
Body satisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and perceived pressure to be thin among Canadian women: The role of acculturation and religiosity Zina Chaker ∗ , Felicia M. Chang, Julie Hakim-Larson Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4
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Article history: Received 5 July 2014 Received in revised form 27 March 2015 Accepted 4 April 2015 Keywords: Appearance satisfaction Thin-ideal internalization Acculturation Religiosity Muslim women Hijab
In an online study, 143 Canadian women of various religious backgrounds completed measures of acculturation, religiosity, body satisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, perceived pressure from media, and manner of dress. Heritage acculturation correlated with appearance satisfaction, but not weight satisfaction. After accounting for BMI and social desirability, higher heritage acculturation and lower mainstream acculturation were associated with lower perceived pressure from media. Thus, heritage acculturation across religious denominations may serve as a buffer against appearance dissatisfaction and perceived media pressure. Manner of dress among the Muslim subgroup and its relation to religiosity and acculturation were also assessed. Muslim women who dressed in greater accordance with Islamic principles reported lower heritage acculturation and greater religiosity. Thus, Muslim women’s manner of dress was related to their religiosity and the extent to which they embraced cultural values. These findings are discussed in terms of the possible distinctions between heritage acculturation and religiosity. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction Body dissatisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal predict future depressive symptoms (Stice & Bearman, 2001) and the development of eating disorders (e.g., Stice & Shaw, 2002) among female adolescents and young women. Understanding how various factors may contribute to body image and internalization of the thin ideal is therefore critical in understanding eating disorders and depressive symptomatology. Recently, studies have attempted to assess how religious identity, religiosity, and culture relate to body image and internalization of the thin ideal. One’s religious identity refers to the system of belief an individual identifies with, while one’s religiosity refers to the level of devotion an individual has to his/her religion (Mattis & Jagers, 2001). Culture is defined as “systems of knowledge, concepts, rules, and practices that are learned and transmitted across generations” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 749). Existing research suggests that religiosity is a protective factor for body dissatisfaction and thin-ideal internalization (e.g.,
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 519 562 1162. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Z. Chaker), [email protected] (F.M. Chang), [email protected] (J. Hakim-Larson). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.04.003 1740-1445/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Homan & Boyatzis, 2010). More specifically, church attendance and religiosity are positively associated with body satisfaction among adults (Homan & Boyatzis, 2009) and negatively associated with body dissatisfaction among female adolescents and adults with bulimia (Smith, Richards, & Maglio, 2004). People who have more insecure attachments with God are more likely to report thin-ideal internalization (Homan & Boyatzis, 2010). Experimental studies also suggest that the presence of religion may reduce one’s susceptibility to body dissatisfaction. For example, when women read religious statements after being presented with an image of a thin model, they reported higher levels of body esteem (Boyatzis, Kline, & Backof, 2007) and lower levels of body dissatisfaction (Bell, 2011) compared to individuals who did not read religious statements. It is of note that the aforementioned literature is based on samples that are largely composed of individuals of Christian denominations. In terms of culture, a meta-analysis revealed that across 15 studies, individuals of ethnic and/or racial minority groups reported lower levels of body dissatisfaction than did White individuals (Wildes, Emery, & Simons, 2001). However, variations in adherence to cultural values and practices among individuals within ethnic and racial groups exist (Sue & Sue, 2008). Therefore, individuals’ levels of acculturation should be assessed rather than conducting group comparisons, as was done in many of the studies included in the meta-analysis. Acculturation refers to the
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process of psychological, sociocultural, political, and economic changes in attitude and identity that occur when individuals from different cultures interact (Berry, 1997). Berry posited that immigrants’ acculturation strategies can be conceptualized using two orthogonal dimensions: maintenance of the heritage culture and adoption of the mainstream/host culture. Thus, in Canadian immigrant populations, heritage acculturation refers to embracing the values and societal norms of the country from which the individual immigrated, whereas mainstream acculturation refers to embracing the values and societal norms of the country to which the individual immigrated (i.e., Canadian values and practices). Mainstream acculturation is especially important to consider if the host culture emphasizes a particular physical appearance as ideal, as do Western countries such as Canada. For example, eating disorders have previously been described as Western culturebound syndromes (Lai, 2000). Soh, Touyz, and Surgenor (2006) have suggested that “ethnic minority groups in [Western] countries have [a] lower risk of eating pathology [which] is possibly due to a lower level of acculturation to the mainstream society” (p. 56). In support of these propositions, Ball and Kenardy (2002) found that after accounting for body mass index (BMI) and socioeconomic status, mainstream acculturation, as measured by the number of years women had lived in Australia, significantly predicted body weight dissatisfaction among a sample of over 10,000 women. Similarly, mainstream acculturation positively correlated with body dissatisfaction among Mexican American women (Poloskov & Tracey, 2013). Women’s levels of acculturation also may be connected to the extent to which they internalize and/or feel pressure to attain the thin ideal. For example, among ethnic minorities, women who endorse mainstream acculturation reported higher levels of internalization of the thin ideal (Garcia-Rea, 2006). Indeed, Poloskov and Tracey (2013) found a significant positive association between mainstream acculturation and thin-ideal internalization among Mexican American women. These findings are not surprising when considering the proposition that internalization of the thin ideal actually “represents a domain-specific manifestation of acculturation to dominant culture” (Tolaymat & Moradi, 2011, p. 384). At present, there is limited literature addressing the role of religiosity and acculturation on body satisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal among Muslim women (e.g., Homan & Boyatzis, 2009; Sussman, Truong, & Lim, 2007). It is important to include this understudied population in research given that Islam is the fastest growing religion in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2011). Moreover, the findings based on previous studies including Muslim participants are mixed. For example, among Muslim women in Britain, the frequency and conservativeness with which women wore the religiously prescribed headscarf, referred to as the hijab, was positively associated with body satisfaction, and negatively associated with internalization of the thin ideal and perceived pressure to adhere to media beauty standards (Swami, Miah, Noorani, & Taylor, 2013). In contrast, a study of Muslim women in the USA found no significant associations between the frequency of hijab use and internalization of the thin ideal (Tolaymat & Moradi, 2011). While these studies conceptualized the hijab as an indicator of religiosity, Dunkel, Davidson, and Qurashi (2010) noted that the hijab also may reflect maintenance of one’s heritage culture. Dunkel et al. (2010) found that women who wore non-Western clothing with a hijab reported less pressure to adhere to and internalize the thin ideal, compared to those who wore Western clothing without a hijab, after controlling for BMI. However, in their critique of this study, Tolaymat and Moradi (2011) noted that while all of the participants who indicated wearing non-Western clothing with a hijab were Muslim, the majority of participants who indicated wearing Western clothing without the hijab were nonMuslim. This calls into question whether the effects found were actually due to manner of dress or religious identity (Tolaymat &
Moradi, 2011). Although this result may be confounded by religious identity, a study among solely Muslim women also found that women who wore the hijab had significantly greater body satisfaction, lower internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived less pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards than women who did not wear the hijab (Swami et al., 2013). Mixed findings also exist among studies that do not assess acculturation in terms of the hijab. For example, Mussap (2009a) found that mainstream identification positively correlated with body dissatisfaction among Muslim women, whereas Abdollahi and Mann (2001) found no differences between Iranian women living in Tehran and Iranian women living in Los Angeles in terms of their ideal weight and shape concerns. The aforementioned studies exemplify a tendency to indirectly assess religiosity and/or acculturation among Muslim women by measuring the use of the hijab and/or the conservativeness of it (i.e., how much the headscarf covers), as opposed to focusing on other underlying factors. Fittingly, Swami et al. (2013, p. 9) have noted that, “while use of the hijab itself may offer protection against negative body image, it may also be a proxy for some other, unmeasured protective factor.” Consistent with this proposition, the contribution of religiosity to body dissatisfaction among Muslim women was mediated by the use of modest clothing (Mussap, 2009b). That is, Muslim women who are more religious tend to dress more modestly which results in lower levels of body dissatisfaction, suggesting that clothing preferences may reflect Muslim women’s level of religiosity. As such, further research is necessary to determine if these proxies are truly reflective of higher levels of religiosity. Overall, despite the use of proxies for religiosity in past studies, research on Muslim women appears to yield results that are consistent with findings among Christian samples. Thus, religiosity as opposed to religious identity may play a key role in predicting body image and internalization of the thin ideal. The Present Study Generally, studies assessing acculturation suggest that adherence to either mainstream or heritage culture may have an important relation to body satisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal. Much of the literature on acculturation conceptualizes acculturation along a single continuum from being entirely accepting of the dominant culture to completely rejecting it (e.g., Garcia-Rea, 2006). Given that Berry (1997) conceptualized acculturation along two orthogonal dimensions, the extent to which one embraces his/her heritage should be assessed in addition to adherence to the dominant culture. As well, there is a need for more accurate measurement of acculturation as some studies use proxies (e.g., number of years living in a particular country) rather than validated measures of this construct. Thus, in the current study, religiosity as well as both heritage and mainstream acculturation were examined. Our first aim was to assess potential associations between (a) acculturation, religiosity, and religious identity and (b) body esteem, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived pressure to adhere to beauty standards set by media. This aim was investigated by administering validated measures of these constructs to first and second generation Canadian women between the ages of 18 and 25. Women of all religions were included in the study given our interest in religiosity. Efforts were made to ensure Muslim women represented a substantial portion of the sample since they are often neglected in this area of research. Extant research has tended to examine the association between religiosity and body image and internalization of the thin ideal among Muslim and non-Muslim women independent of each other. However, given that Mussap (2009b) found no significant differences between the two groups’ levels of body dissatisfaction, the extent of one’s devotion to a particular religion could be assessed among people of varying religions within one study. To demonstrate that
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the associations between religiosity, body esteem, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards do not depend on religious affiliation, we also assessed whether religiosity and religious identity (Muslim vs non-Muslim) interact to predict the constructs of interest. Based on the aforementioned literature, we hypothesized the following: Hypothesis 1. Greater mainstream acculturation would contribute unique variance to lower levels of body esteem, greater internalization of the thin ideal, and greater perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards; conversely, greater heritage acculturation would contribute unique variance to higher levels of body esteem and lower internalization of the thin ideal and perceived pressure. Hypothesis 2. Greater religiosity would contribute unique variance to greater body esteem, lower internalization of the thin ideal, and lower perceived pressure. Although the interaction between religious identity and religiosity was investigated as a potential contributor of unique variance to body esteem, internalization of the thin ideal, and pressure to adhere to beauty standards set by media, no hypotheses were developed. BMI has been shown to correlate with measures of body dissatisfaction (e.g., Tiggemann, 2005), and therefore BMI was controlled for in the analyses. As well, Dunkel et al. (2010) expressed concerns that having participants respond to questions about their level of religiosity might lead them to respond to other questionnaires in a manner that would be more in line with the types of the answers that they perceived as acceptable based on their religion. Thus, we also considered social desirability as a covariate in our analyses. Our second aim was to determine whether manner of dress among women who self-identify as Muslim differs based on their levels of acculturation and religiosity. Muslims are provided guidelines on how to dress through the Qur’an, the central religious text to Muslims, and the Hadeeth, preserved sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. These guidelines require men and women to wear loose clothing that covers certain areas of the body when in public or in gender-mixed gatherings (al-Hashimi & alKhattab, 2010). For women, modest garments must cover the hair and the body, with the exception of the face and hands, in a manner that does not attract unwarranted attention when non-relative men may be present (al-Hashimi & al-Khattab, 2010). Women may choose to cover their face through the niqab, a face veil with an opening for the eyes, but covering one’s face is not required and is believed to be a matter of personal choice by the majority of Muslims (Ruby, 2006). Dressing in accordance to Islamic guidelines varies across Muslim countries, where culture may also play a role in shaping one’s dress. For example, the jilbab or abayah, loose outer gowns covering the body, are predominantly worn with the hijab by Muslim women living in the Middle East, while Muslim women living in South Asia may adhere to Islamic dress principles by wearing the hijab with salwar-kameez, a long tunic worn over loose-fitting pants. Likewise, Muslim women living in North America may maintain a modest appearance while dressing according to Western fashion, such as by wearing floor-length skirts and long-sleeved shirts. In all of the aforementioned instances, Muslim women strive to adhere to religious dress guidelines, regardless of their specific dress. While the hijab is usually perceived as a religious manifestation, we chose to assess both acculturation and religiosity given that some researchers, such as Dunkel et al. (2010), have considered the hijab to be a proxy for acculturation, and Mussap (2009b) has noted that religiosity is fundamental to one’s cultural identity. We hypothesized that:
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Hypothesis 3. Manner of dress (e.g., the use of the hijab) among Muslim Canadian women would differ depending on women’s levels of religiosity and both heritage and mainstream acculturation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to enhance current understanding of the relations among religiosity and acculturation, and body esteem, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards. Given that religiosity and acculturation have often been assessed using proxies (e.g., whether one dresses in accordance with religious guidelines, years living in Western society), our use of validated measures of religiosity and acculturation may clarify previous findings. As well, the portion of our study focusing on manner of dress among Muslim women may demonstrate whether past research’s use of the hijab as an indicator of religiosity and/or acculturation is indeed accurate. Moreover, rather than simply examining whether or not Muslim women wear the hijab and its potential association with acculturation and religiosity, we included other categories of dress that may better reflect increasing levels of adherence to Islamic principles. Doing so allows for stronger distinctions to be made in future between-group comparisons, and thus provides a better understanding of religiosity’s relation with body esteem. Additionally, our study focuses on women who are in emerging adulthood which is “an important, yet overlooked, age for establishing long-term health behaviour patterns” (Nelson, Story, Larson, Neumark-Sztainer, & Lytle, 2008, p. 2205), such as disordered eating. Lastly, our focus on Canadian women adds to the existing body of literature on acculturation given that most of this literature has been conducted among U.S. samples, which may reflect a melting pot rather than a mosaic culture (Peach, 2008). Consequently, whether U.S. findings can be generalized to Canada, a country with similar standards of beauty yet differing immigration attitudes, is unclear. Method Participants The data presented in this paper are based on the responses of 143 Canadian women aged 18–25 (M = 20.92 years, SD = 1.97) with an average BMI of 23.05 (SD = 4.48). BMI was calculated from women’s self-reported weight and height. Sixty-one of the 143 participants characterized themselves as Muslim. Of these, 37.70% (n = 23) were born in North America, 26.23% (n = 16) in South Asia, 21.31% (n = 13) in the Middle East, 8.20% (n = 5) in North Africa, 3.28% in Europe (n = 2), and 3.28% in East Africa (n = 2). Of the 82 non-Muslim participants, 75.60% (n = 62) were born in North America, 8.54% (n = 7) in South Asia, 8.54% (n = 7) in Africa, 3.66% (n = 3) in Asia, and 3.66% (n = 3) in the Middle East. Non-Muslim participants characterized themselves as Catholic (n = 33, 40.24%), Christian (n = 17, 20.73%), Agnostic (n = 12, 14.63%), Buddhist (n = 5, 6.11%), Sikh (n = 4, 4.88%), Hindu (n = 4, 4.88%), Atheist (n = 1, 1.22%), and other (n = 6, 7.31%). Measures Brief Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/ Spirituality (BMMRS). The BMMRS (Fetzer Institute & The National Institute of Aging Working Group, 1999) contains 38 items that assess religiousness and spirituality over 11 domains: daily spiritual experiences, values and beliefs, forgiveness, private religious practices, religious/spiritual history, religious support, commitment, organizational religiousness, religious and spiritual coping, religious preference, and overall self-ranking. Past studies have split religious and spiritual coping into two subscales to reflect positive and negative coping (e.g., Keefe et al., 2001) for a total of 12
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subscales. The entire scale was administered in the present study; however, six items were not included when calculating participants’ total scores due to having qualitative responses. Moreover, some of these items inquired about participants’ financial contribution to their religious institutions, and according to Masters et al. (2009) such items are not as relevant to college students. These items formed the Commitment, Religious/spiritual History, and Religious Preference subscales. The remaining 32 items such as “I look to God for strength, support, and guidance” are subscales on 4-, 5-, 6-, or 8-point Likert scales such that lower scores indicate greater levels of religiousness/spirituality. In the present study, scores were reversed such that higher scores indicated greater levels of religiousness/spirituality for ease of interpretation. Given that items are responded to on different scales, all items were first converted to z-scores as has been done in previous studies that have used the BMMRS (e.g., Masters et al., 2009). The z-scores were then averaged to create a composite score for the BMMRS. In the current study, Cronbach’s alpha was .95 for the total score. Scores for the subscales with quantitative responses (i.e., Daily Spiritual Experiences, ˛ = .93; Values and Beliefs, ˛ = .45; Forgiveness, ˛ = .78; Private Religious Practices, ˛ = .88; Religious Support, ˛ = .76; Organizational Religiousness, ˛ = .83; Positive Religious and Spiritual Coping, ˛ = .76; and Negative Religious and Spiritual Coping, ˛ = .46) were computed for post hoc analyses, with the exception of overall self-ranking given that it is a 2-item summary of the measure rather than a specific aspect of religiosity. Reliability estimates for the individual subscales have been upheld (e.g., Fetzer Institute & The National Institute of Aging Working Group, 1999; Knight et al., 2007). Vancouver Index of Acculturation – Canadian (VIA-C). The Canadian version of the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (Ryder, Alden, & Paulhus, 2000) contains 20 items and is comprised of two subscales. The Heritage subscale (VIA-Heritage) measures participants’ levels of identification with their heritage culture and contains 10 items such as “I often participate in my heritage cultural traditions.” The Mainstream subscale (VIA-Mainstream) measures participants’ levels of identification with Canadian culture and contains 10 items such as “I often participate in mainstream Canadian cultural traditions.” All items are answered using a 9-point scale ranging from 1 (disagree) to 9 (agree), and averaged such that higher scores reflect greater levels of identification with the specified culture (i.e., participants’ heritage culture and Canadian culture, respectively). Both subscales are reported to have excellent internal reliability estimates among Canadian undergraduate students (˛ Heritage = .90, ˛ Mainstream = .83; Asvat & Malcarne, 2008). In the current study, Cronbach’s alphas were .92 and .91 for the Heritage and Mainstream subscales, respectively. Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA). The BESAA (Mendelson, Mendelson, & White, 2001) contains 23 items such as “I like what I see when I look in the mirror” and is comprised of three subscales. The Appearance subscale measures general feelings about appearance and consists of 10 items. The Weight subscale measures weight satisfaction and consists of eight items. Lastly, the Attribution subscale measures how one thinks others perceive his/her appearance and consists of five items. All items are answered on a 5-point scale from 0 (never) to 4 (always) and summed such that higher scores reflect greater body satisfaction. All three subscales are reported to have good-to-excellent internal reliability among girls and young women (˛ Appearance = .93, ˛ Weight = .95, ˛ Attribution = .81; Mendelson et al., 2001). In the current study, Cronbach’s alphas were .93, .92, and .65 for the Appearance, Weight and Attribution subscales, respectively. According to Osborne and Waters (2002), using variables that are not reliable in correlational or multiple regression analyses
increases the risk of Type II error, and so the Attribution subscale was not included in any analyses. Moreover, several Muslim participants had contacted the primary investigator inquiring how to respond to items such as “My looks help me to get dates” belonging to the BESAA Attribution subscale, given that they did not feel that they were applicable due to dating being discouraged in their religion.
Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire3 (SATAQ-3). The SATAQ-3 (Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004) contains 30 items such as “I would like my body to look like the models who appear in magazines” and is comprised of four subscales. Only the General Internalization and Perceived Pressures subscales were included in the present study. The General Internalization subscale measures general media influence and consists of nine items. The Perceived Pressures subscale measures participants’ interpretations of pressure created from media exposure; it consists of seven items. All items are answered on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (definitely disagree) to 5 (definitely agree) and summed such that higher scores reflect greater internalization of the thin ideal and pressure to adhere to the standards for appearance set by the media. Both subscales included in this study are reported to have excellent internal consistency among female undergraduate students (˛ General = .96 and ˛ Perceived Pressures = .92; Thompson et al., 2004). In the current study, Cronbach’s alphas were .85 and .91 for the General Internalization and Perceived Pressures subscales, respectively.
Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS). The MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) contains 33 items assessing socially desirable responding such as “No matter who I’m listening to, I’m always a good listener.” All items are answered with True or False which are scored as 0 or 1 depending on the item, and summed such that higher total scores indicate greater endorsement of socially desirable responses. The MCSDS is reported to have good internal consistency among undergraduate students (˛ = .88; Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). In the current study, Cronbach’s alpha was .80.
Demographics questionnaire. Participants were directed to one of two demographics questionnaires depending on their religious affiliation. Both questionnaires inquired about background information such as the participant’s age, ethnicity, immigration status, country of birth, and manner of dress, but the latter portion varied between the two questionnaires. Women who identified themselves as Muslim were asked to rate how often they wear various types of clothing when in a public setting from 0 (never) to 4 (always). Dress options listed in the study were: Western dress (e.g., t-shirts, jeans, etc.), non-North American traditional clothing (e.g., salwar-kameez and saris, garments worn by South Asian women) without the hijab, long skirts and full-sleeved shirts without the hijab, Western dress with the hijab, non-North American traditional dress with the hijab, long skirts and full-sleeved shirts with the hijab, the jilbab/abayah, and the niqab. Participants who did not identify themselves as Muslim also were asked to rate how often they wear various types of clothing when in a public setting from 0 (never) to 4 (always), to equalize groups and reduce any potential response biases. Non-Muslim participants’ dress options only included “Western dress” and “religious clothing.” Ratings were used for the purpose of categorizing participants by the type of clothing they reported wearing most frequently, as described in the Results section.
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Procedure Participants were recruited for the present study via advertisements on an undergraduate psychology participant pool and on social media websites (e.g., Facebook). Advertisements also were given to the leaders of student groups at the university and emailed to members of a local mosque. The advertisements were circulated in an urban area and indicated that participation in the study was restricted to Canadian women between the ages of 18 and 25 years old who were immigrants to Canada or the daughters of immigrant parents. The latter criterion was included to ensure all participants had a heritage culture, as acculturation refers to a process of cultural change. Overall, 224 individuals accessed the online study, 96 of whom were recruited from the participant pool and 128 from other recruitment methods (e.g., social media or student groups). However, only 143 met the aforementioned inclusion criteria, as well as completed all of the predictor measures and at least one criterion measure. After completing the appropriate demographic questionnaire, participants completed the remaining questionnaires in randomized order, and then reported their weight and height. Participants who were registered in the participant pool were compensated with 0.5 credits for their participation, and those who were not were entered in a raffle for a chance to win one of three $10 gift cards. This study was approved by the University’s Departmental Research Ethics Board. Results Preliminary Analyses The assumptions of multiple regression first were assessed. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test revealed that BMI, the MCSDS, VIA-Heritage, VIA-mainstream, and BMMRS were not normally distributed (all ps < .01), although skewness and kurtosis were within ±3 and ±10, respectively (Kline, 2010). Independence of residuals was assessed via the Durbin-Watson statistic, and all statistics were close to the accepted value of 2, indicating that this assumption was met. However, the assumptions of linearity and homoscedasticity were not met. Thus, all regressions were conducted using bootstrapping, given that this technique can be employed as a strategy to obtain more accurate estimates when two or more assumptions are violated (Tavakol & Wilcox, 2013). Correlations Table 1 contains the Pearson correlations, means, and standard deviations of all the variables included in the present study. As
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predicted, higher levels of appearance satisfaction were associated with greater endorsement of women’s heritage culture and greater religiosity. However, appearance satisfaction was not associated with lower levels of mainstream acculturation (i.e., Canadian culture). Additionally, weight satisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal were not significantly correlated with religiosity or acculturation to either the mainstream or heritage culture. Perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards was positively correlated with mainstream acculturation, as predicted.
Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 Results To determine whether religious identity, religiosity, mainstream and heritage acculturation, and the interaction between religious identity and religiosity were associated with body esteem (i.e., appearance satisfaction and weight satisfaction), thin-ideal internalization, and perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards, four linear regressions with bootstrapping were conducted. Covariates (i.e., BMI, social desirability) were entered into the first block. The second block contained the dummy codes for religious identity, where 0 and 1 represented non-Muslim and Muslim participants, respectively. Religiosity, heritage acculturation, and mainstream acculturation also were included in the second block. Finally, the interaction between religious identity and religiosity was added into the third block. All predictors were centered prior to being included in the regression analyses to avoid multicollinearity between the predictors and interaction (Field, 2009). The final regression models are presented in Tables 2 and 3. The unstandardized regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals presented in these tables are based on 10,000 samples drawn randomly with replacement from our dataset. Table 2 provides a summary of the final regression model with appearance satisfaction as the criterion variable. Step 1 which controlled for BMI and social desirability was significant, F(2, 140) = 11.87, p < .001, accounting for 14.5% of the variance in appearance satisfaction and both variables significantly predicted appearance satisfaction. Adding in religious identity, religiosity, mainstream and heritage acculturation in Step 2 did not significantly contribute to the variance in appearance satisfaction, F(4, 136) = 1.59, p = .181. Heritage acculturation was approaching significance in Step 2, t(136) = 2.16, p = .057, although it was nonsignificant in Step 3 (p = .084) where the interaction between religious identity and religiosity was added. Step 3 did not significantly contribute to the variance in appearance satisfaction, F(1, 135) = 0.40, p = .529. Table 2 also provides a summary of the final regression model with weight satisfaction as the criterion variable. Step 1 which controlled for BMI and social desirability was significant, F(2,
Table 1 Zero-order correlations between variables and covariates (N = 143). 1 1. BMI 2. Social desirability 3. Appearance satisfaction 4. Weight satisfaction 5. General internalization 6. Perceived pressure 7. Heritage acculturation 8. Mainstream acculturation 9. Religiosity M (SD) a * **
=.002. p < .05. p < .01.
2
1.00
.01 1.00
23.05 4.48
17.67 5.45
3 −.29** .25** 1.00
22.78 7.67
4 −.59** .00a .54** 1.00
16.10 7.59
5 .25** −.28** −.59** −.44** 1.00
18.97 8.85
6 .32** −.27** −.50** −.44** .75** 1.00
15.28 7.07
7
8
9
.01 .27** .23* −.11 −.14 −.16 1.00
.11 −.12 −.10 −.10 .15 .21** .20* 1.00
−.13 .26** .19* .08 −.09 −.04 .21* −.31** 1.00
6.14 2.05
6.88 1.74
0.00 0.62
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Table 2 Summary of final hierarchical regression analysis for BESAA subscales: appearance satisfaction and weight satisfaction (N = 143). Variable
BMI Social desirability Religious identitya Religiosity Heritage acculturation Mainstream acculturation Religiosity × Religious identitya a
Appearance satisfaction
Weight satisfaction
b
95% CI
SE b
ˇ
p
sr2
b
95% CI
SE b
ˇ
p
sr2
−0.481 0.251 0.627 1.005 0.654 −0.268 −1.600
−0.711, −0.195 0.011, 0.481 −2.597, 3.995 −2.031, 3.790 −0.071, 1.384 −1.105, 0.575 −7.488, 3.606
0.131 0.121 1.701 1.478 0.376 0.430 2.780
−.281 .178 .041 .081 .175 −.061 −.072
.000 .039 .709 .499 .084 .536 .559
.077 .028 .001 .003 .024 .003 .002
−0.996 0.039 −0.491 0.536 −0.422 −0.046 −0.183
−1.352, −0.771 −0.144, 0.227 −3.677, 2.781 −2.077, 2.929 −0.935, 0.120 −0.797, 0.731 −5.621, 5.108
0.148 0.093 1.661 1.280 0.271 0.386 2.733
−.588 .028 −.032 .044 −.114 −.011 −.008
.000 .669 .766 .680 .120 .907 .949
.336 .001 .001 .001 .010
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Body Image journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bodyimage
Body satisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and perceived pressure to be thin among Canadian women: The role of acculturation and religiosity Zina Chaker ∗ , Felicia M. Chang, Julie Hakim-Larson Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4
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a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 5 July 2014 Received in revised form 27 March 2015 Accepted 4 April 2015 Keywords: Appearance satisfaction Thin-ideal internalization Acculturation Religiosity Muslim women Hijab
In an online study, 143 Canadian women of various religious backgrounds completed measures of acculturation, religiosity, body satisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, perceived pressure from media, and manner of dress. Heritage acculturation correlated with appearance satisfaction, but not weight satisfaction. After accounting for BMI and social desirability, higher heritage acculturation and lower mainstream acculturation were associated with lower perceived pressure from media. Thus, heritage acculturation across religious denominations may serve as a buffer against appearance dissatisfaction and perceived media pressure. Manner of dress among the Muslim subgroup and its relation to religiosity and acculturation were also assessed. Muslim women who dressed in greater accordance with Islamic principles reported lower heritage acculturation and greater religiosity. Thus, Muslim women’s manner of dress was related to their religiosity and the extent to which they embraced cultural values. These findings are discussed in terms of the possible distinctions between heritage acculturation and religiosity. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction Body dissatisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal predict future depressive symptoms (Stice & Bearman, 2001) and the development of eating disorders (e.g., Stice & Shaw, 2002) among female adolescents and young women. Understanding how various factors may contribute to body image and internalization of the thin ideal is therefore critical in understanding eating disorders and depressive symptomatology. Recently, studies have attempted to assess how religious identity, religiosity, and culture relate to body image and internalization of the thin ideal. One’s religious identity refers to the system of belief an individual identifies with, while one’s religiosity refers to the level of devotion an individual has to his/her religion (Mattis & Jagers, 2001). Culture is defined as “systems of knowledge, concepts, rules, and practices that are learned and transmitted across generations” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 749). Existing research suggests that religiosity is a protective factor for body dissatisfaction and thin-ideal internalization (e.g.,
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 519 562 1162. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Z. Chaker), [email protected] (F.M. Chang), [email protected] (J. Hakim-Larson). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.04.003 1740-1445/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Homan & Boyatzis, 2010). More specifically, church attendance and religiosity are positively associated with body satisfaction among adults (Homan & Boyatzis, 2009) and negatively associated with body dissatisfaction among female adolescents and adults with bulimia (Smith, Richards, & Maglio, 2004). People who have more insecure attachments with God are more likely to report thin-ideal internalization (Homan & Boyatzis, 2010). Experimental studies also suggest that the presence of religion may reduce one’s susceptibility to body dissatisfaction. For example, when women read religious statements after being presented with an image of a thin model, they reported higher levels of body esteem (Boyatzis, Kline, & Backof, 2007) and lower levels of body dissatisfaction (Bell, 2011) compared to individuals who did not read religious statements. It is of note that the aforementioned literature is based on samples that are largely composed of individuals of Christian denominations. In terms of culture, a meta-analysis revealed that across 15 studies, individuals of ethnic and/or racial minority groups reported lower levels of body dissatisfaction than did White individuals (Wildes, Emery, & Simons, 2001). However, variations in adherence to cultural values and practices among individuals within ethnic and racial groups exist (Sue & Sue, 2008). Therefore, individuals’ levels of acculturation should be assessed rather than conducting group comparisons, as was done in many of the studies included in the meta-analysis. Acculturation refers to the
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process of psychological, sociocultural, political, and economic changes in attitude and identity that occur when individuals from different cultures interact (Berry, 1997). Berry posited that immigrants’ acculturation strategies can be conceptualized using two orthogonal dimensions: maintenance of the heritage culture and adoption of the mainstream/host culture. Thus, in Canadian immigrant populations, heritage acculturation refers to embracing the values and societal norms of the country from which the individual immigrated, whereas mainstream acculturation refers to embracing the values and societal norms of the country to which the individual immigrated (i.e., Canadian values and practices). Mainstream acculturation is especially important to consider if the host culture emphasizes a particular physical appearance as ideal, as do Western countries such as Canada. For example, eating disorders have previously been described as Western culturebound syndromes (Lai, 2000). Soh, Touyz, and Surgenor (2006) have suggested that “ethnic minority groups in [Western] countries have [a] lower risk of eating pathology [which] is possibly due to a lower level of acculturation to the mainstream society” (p. 56). In support of these propositions, Ball and Kenardy (2002) found that after accounting for body mass index (BMI) and socioeconomic status, mainstream acculturation, as measured by the number of years women had lived in Australia, significantly predicted body weight dissatisfaction among a sample of over 10,000 women. Similarly, mainstream acculturation positively correlated with body dissatisfaction among Mexican American women (Poloskov & Tracey, 2013). Women’s levels of acculturation also may be connected to the extent to which they internalize and/or feel pressure to attain the thin ideal. For example, among ethnic minorities, women who endorse mainstream acculturation reported higher levels of internalization of the thin ideal (Garcia-Rea, 2006). Indeed, Poloskov and Tracey (2013) found a significant positive association between mainstream acculturation and thin-ideal internalization among Mexican American women. These findings are not surprising when considering the proposition that internalization of the thin ideal actually “represents a domain-specific manifestation of acculturation to dominant culture” (Tolaymat & Moradi, 2011, p. 384). At present, there is limited literature addressing the role of religiosity and acculturation on body satisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal among Muslim women (e.g., Homan & Boyatzis, 2009; Sussman, Truong, & Lim, 2007). It is important to include this understudied population in research given that Islam is the fastest growing religion in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2011). Moreover, the findings based on previous studies including Muslim participants are mixed. For example, among Muslim women in Britain, the frequency and conservativeness with which women wore the religiously prescribed headscarf, referred to as the hijab, was positively associated with body satisfaction, and negatively associated with internalization of the thin ideal and perceived pressure to adhere to media beauty standards (Swami, Miah, Noorani, & Taylor, 2013). In contrast, a study of Muslim women in the USA found no significant associations between the frequency of hijab use and internalization of the thin ideal (Tolaymat & Moradi, 2011). While these studies conceptualized the hijab as an indicator of religiosity, Dunkel, Davidson, and Qurashi (2010) noted that the hijab also may reflect maintenance of one’s heritage culture. Dunkel et al. (2010) found that women who wore non-Western clothing with a hijab reported less pressure to adhere to and internalize the thin ideal, compared to those who wore Western clothing without a hijab, after controlling for BMI. However, in their critique of this study, Tolaymat and Moradi (2011) noted that while all of the participants who indicated wearing non-Western clothing with a hijab were Muslim, the majority of participants who indicated wearing Western clothing without the hijab were nonMuslim. This calls into question whether the effects found were actually due to manner of dress or religious identity (Tolaymat &
Moradi, 2011). Although this result may be confounded by religious identity, a study among solely Muslim women also found that women who wore the hijab had significantly greater body satisfaction, lower internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived less pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards than women who did not wear the hijab (Swami et al., 2013). Mixed findings also exist among studies that do not assess acculturation in terms of the hijab. For example, Mussap (2009a) found that mainstream identification positively correlated with body dissatisfaction among Muslim women, whereas Abdollahi and Mann (2001) found no differences between Iranian women living in Tehran and Iranian women living in Los Angeles in terms of their ideal weight and shape concerns. The aforementioned studies exemplify a tendency to indirectly assess religiosity and/or acculturation among Muslim women by measuring the use of the hijab and/or the conservativeness of it (i.e., how much the headscarf covers), as opposed to focusing on other underlying factors. Fittingly, Swami et al. (2013, p. 9) have noted that, “while use of the hijab itself may offer protection against negative body image, it may also be a proxy for some other, unmeasured protective factor.” Consistent with this proposition, the contribution of religiosity to body dissatisfaction among Muslim women was mediated by the use of modest clothing (Mussap, 2009b). That is, Muslim women who are more religious tend to dress more modestly which results in lower levels of body dissatisfaction, suggesting that clothing preferences may reflect Muslim women’s level of religiosity. As such, further research is necessary to determine if these proxies are truly reflective of higher levels of religiosity. Overall, despite the use of proxies for religiosity in past studies, research on Muslim women appears to yield results that are consistent with findings among Christian samples. Thus, religiosity as opposed to religious identity may play a key role in predicting body image and internalization of the thin ideal. The Present Study Generally, studies assessing acculturation suggest that adherence to either mainstream or heritage culture may have an important relation to body satisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal. Much of the literature on acculturation conceptualizes acculturation along a single continuum from being entirely accepting of the dominant culture to completely rejecting it (e.g., Garcia-Rea, 2006). Given that Berry (1997) conceptualized acculturation along two orthogonal dimensions, the extent to which one embraces his/her heritage should be assessed in addition to adherence to the dominant culture. As well, there is a need for more accurate measurement of acculturation as some studies use proxies (e.g., number of years living in a particular country) rather than validated measures of this construct. Thus, in the current study, religiosity as well as both heritage and mainstream acculturation were examined. Our first aim was to assess potential associations between (a) acculturation, religiosity, and religious identity and (b) body esteem, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived pressure to adhere to beauty standards set by media. This aim was investigated by administering validated measures of these constructs to first and second generation Canadian women between the ages of 18 and 25. Women of all religions were included in the study given our interest in religiosity. Efforts were made to ensure Muslim women represented a substantial portion of the sample since they are often neglected in this area of research. Extant research has tended to examine the association between religiosity and body image and internalization of the thin ideal among Muslim and non-Muslim women independent of each other. However, given that Mussap (2009b) found no significant differences between the two groups’ levels of body dissatisfaction, the extent of one’s devotion to a particular religion could be assessed among people of varying religions within one study. To demonstrate that
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the associations between religiosity, body esteem, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards do not depend on religious affiliation, we also assessed whether religiosity and religious identity (Muslim vs non-Muslim) interact to predict the constructs of interest. Based on the aforementioned literature, we hypothesized the following: Hypothesis 1. Greater mainstream acculturation would contribute unique variance to lower levels of body esteem, greater internalization of the thin ideal, and greater perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards; conversely, greater heritage acculturation would contribute unique variance to higher levels of body esteem and lower internalization of the thin ideal and perceived pressure. Hypothesis 2. Greater religiosity would contribute unique variance to greater body esteem, lower internalization of the thin ideal, and lower perceived pressure. Although the interaction between religious identity and religiosity was investigated as a potential contributor of unique variance to body esteem, internalization of the thin ideal, and pressure to adhere to beauty standards set by media, no hypotheses were developed. BMI has been shown to correlate with measures of body dissatisfaction (e.g., Tiggemann, 2005), and therefore BMI was controlled for in the analyses. As well, Dunkel et al. (2010) expressed concerns that having participants respond to questions about their level of religiosity might lead them to respond to other questionnaires in a manner that would be more in line with the types of the answers that they perceived as acceptable based on their religion. Thus, we also considered social desirability as a covariate in our analyses. Our second aim was to determine whether manner of dress among women who self-identify as Muslim differs based on their levels of acculturation and religiosity. Muslims are provided guidelines on how to dress through the Qur’an, the central religious text to Muslims, and the Hadeeth, preserved sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. These guidelines require men and women to wear loose clothing that covers certain areas of the body when in public or in gender-mixed gatherings (al-Hashimi & alKhattab, 2010). For women, modest garments must cover the hair and the body, with the exception of the face and hands, in a manner that does not attract unwarranted attention when non-relative men may be present (al-Hashimi & al-Khattab, 2010). Women may choose to cover their face through the niqab, a face veil with an opening for the eyes, but covering one’s face is not required and is believed to be a matter of personal choice by the majority of Muslims (Ruby, 2006). Dressing in accordance to Islamic guidelines varies across Muslim countries, where culture may also play a role in shaping one’s dress. For example, the jilbab or abayah, loose outer gowns covering the body, are predominantly worn with the hijab by Muslim women living in the Middle East, while Muslim women living in South Asia may adhere to Islamic dress principles by wearing the hijab with salwar-kameez, a long tunic worn over loose-fitting pants. Likewise, Muslim women living in North America may maintain a modest appearance while dressing according to Western fashion, such as by wearing floor-length skirts and long-sleeved shirts. In all of the aforementioned instances, Muslim women strive to adhere to religious dress guidelines, regardless of their specific dress. While the hijab is usually perceived as a religious manifestation, we chose to assess both acculturation and religiosity given that some researchers, such as Dunkel et al. (2010), have considered the hijab to be a proxy for acculturation, and Mussap (2009b) has noted that religiosity is fundamental to one’s cultural identity. We hypothesized that:
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Hypothesis 3. Manner of dress (e.g., the use of the hijab) among Muslim Canadian women would differ depending on women’s levels of religiosity and both heritage and mainstream acculturation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to enhance current understanding of the relations among religiosity and acculturation, and body esteem, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards. Given that religiosity and acculturation have often been assessed using proxies (e.g., whether one dresses in accordance with religious guidelines, years living in Western society), our use of validated measures of religiosity and acculturation may clarify previous findings. As well, the portion of our study focusing on manner of dress among Muslim women may demonstrate whether past research’s use of the hijab as an indicator of religiosity and/or acculturation is indeed accurate. Moreover, rather than simply examining whether or not Muslim women wear the hijab and its potential association with acculturation and religiosity, we included other categories of dress that may better reflect increasing levels of adherence to Islamic principles. Doing so allows for stronger distinctions to be made in future between-group comparisons, and thus provides a better understanding of religiosity’s relation with body esteem. Additionally, our study focuses on women who are in emerging adulthood which is “an important, yet overlooked, age for establishing long-term health behaviour patterns” (Nelson, Story, Larson, Neumark-Sztainer, & Lytle, 2008, p. 2205), such as disordered eating. Lastly, our focus on Canadian women adds to the existing body of literature on acculturation given that most of this literature has been conducted among U.S. samples, which may reflect a melting pot rather than a mosaic culture (Peach, 2008). Consequently, whether U.S. findings can be generalized to Canada, a country with similar standards of beauty yet differing immigration attitudes, is unclear. Method Participants The data presented in this paper are based on the responses of 143 Canadian women aged 18–25 (M = 20.92 years, SD = 1.97) with an average BMI of 23.05 (SD = 4.48). BMI was calculated from women’s self-reported weight and height. Sixty-one of the 143 participants characterized themselves as Muslim. Of these, 37.70% (n = 23) were born in North America, 26.23% (n = 16) in South Asia, 21.31% (n = 13) in the Middle East, 8.20% (n = 5) in North Africa, 3.28% in Europe (n = 2), and 3.28% in East Africa (n = 2). Of the 82 non-Muslim participants, 75.60% (n = 62) were born in North America, 8.54% (n = 7) in South Asia, 8.54% (n = 7) in Africa, 3.66% (n = 3) in Asia, and 3.66% (n = 3) in the Middle East. Non-Muslim participants characterized themselves as Catholic (n = 33, 40.24%), Christian (n = 17, 20.73%), Agnostic (n = 12, 14.63%), Buddhist (n = 5, 6.11%), Sikh (n = 4, 4.88%), Hindu (n = 4, 4.88%), Atheist (n = 1, 1.22%), and other (n = 6, 7.31%). Measures Brief Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/ Spirituality (BMMRS). The BMMRS (Fetzer Institute & The National Institute of Aging Working Group, 1999) contains 38 items that assess religiousness and spirituality over 11 domains: daily spiritual experiences, values and beliefs, forgiveness, private religious practices, religious/spiritual history, religious support, commitment, organizational religiousness, religious and spiritual coping, religious preference, and overall self-ranking. Past studies have split religious and spiritual coping into two subscales to reflect positive and negative coping (e.g., Keefe et al., 2001) for a total of 12
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subscales. The entire scale was administered in the present study; however, six items were not included when calculating participants’ total scores due to having qualitative responses. Moreover, some of these items inquired about participants’ financial contribution to their religious institutions, and according to Masters et al. (2009) such items are not as relevant to college students. These items formed the Commitment, Religious/spiritual History, and Religious Preference subscales. The remaining 32 items such as “I look to God for strength, support, and guidance” are subscales on 4-, 5-, 6-, or 8-point Likert scales such that lower scores indicate greater levels of religiousness/spirituality. In the present study, scores were reversed such that higher scores indicated greater levels of religiousness/spirituality for ease of interpretation. Given that items are responded to on different scales, all items were first converted to z-scores as has been done in previous studies that have used the BMMRS (e.g., Masters et al., 2009). The z-scores were then averaged to create a composite score for the BMMRS. In the current study, Cronbach’s alpha was .95 for the total score. Scores for the subscales with quantitative responses (i.e., Daily Spiritual Experiences, ˛ = .93; Values and Beliefs, ˛ = .45; Forgiveness, ˛ = .78; Private Religious Practices, ˛ = .88; Religious Support, ˛ = .76; Organizational Religiousness, ˛ = .83; Positive Religious and Spiritual Coping, ˛ = .76; and Negative Religious and Spiritual Coping, ˛ = .46) were computed for post hoc analyses, with the exception of overall self-ranking given that it is a 2-item summary of the measure rather than a specific aspect of religiosity. Reliability estimates for the individual subscales have been upheld (e.g., Fetzer Institute & The National Institute of Aging Working Group, 1999; Knight et al., 2007). Vancouver Index of Acculturation – Canadian (VIA-C). The Canadian version of the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (Ryder, Alden, & Paulhus, 2000) contains 20 items and is comprised of two subscales. The Heritage subscale (VIA-Heritage) measures participants’ levels of identification with their heritage culture and contains 10 items such as “I often participate in my heritage cultural traditions.” The Mainstream subscale (VIA-Mainstream) measures participants’ levels of identification with Canadian culture and contains 10 items such as “I often participate in mainstream Canadian cultural traditions.” All items are answered using a 9-point scale ranging from 1 (disagree) to 9 (agree), and averaged such that higher scores reflect greater levels of identification with the specified culture (i.e., participants’ heritage culture and Canadian culture, respectively). Both subscales are reported to have excellent internal reliability estimates among Canadian undergraduate students (˛ Heritage = .90, ˛ Mainstream = .83; Asvat & Malcarne, 2008). In the current study, Cronbach’s alphas were .92 and .91 for the Heritage and Mainstream subscales, respectively. Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA). The BESAA (Mendelson, Mendelson, & White, 2001) contains 23 items such as “I like what I see when I look in the mirror” and is comprised of three subscales. The Appearance subscale measures general feelings about appearance and consists of 10 items. The Weight subscale measures weight satisfaction and consists of eight items. Lastly, the Attribution subscale measures how one thinks others perceive his/her appearance and consists of five items. All items are answered on a 5-point scale from 0 (never) to 4 (always) and summed such that higher scores reflect greater body satisfaction. All three subscales are reported to have good-to-excellent internal reliability among girls and young women (˛ Appearance = .93, ˛ Weight = .95, ˛ Attribution = .81; Mendelson et al., 2001). In the current study, Cronbach’s alphas were .93, .92, and .65 for the Appearance, Weight and Attribution subscales, respectively. According to Osborne and Waters (2002), using variables that are not reliable in correlational or multiple regression analyses
increases the risk of Type II error, and so the Attribution subscale was not included in any analyses. Moreover, several Muslim participants had contacted the primary investigator inquiring how to respond to items such as “My looks help me to get dates” belonging to the BESAA Attribution subscale, given that they did not feel that they were applicable due to dating being discouraged in their religion.
Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire3 (SATAQ-3). The SATAQ-3 (Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004) contains 30 items such as “I would like my body to look like the models who appear in magazines” and is comprised of four subscales. Only the General Internalization and Perceived Pressures subscales were included in the present study. The General Internalization subscale measures general media influence and consists of nine items. The Perceived Pressures subscale measures participants’ interpretations of pressure created from media exposure; it consists of seven items. All items are answered on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (definitely disagree) to 5 (definitely agree) and summed such that higher scores reflect greater internalization of the thin ideal and pressure to adhere to the standards for appearance set by the media. Both subscales included in this study are reported to have excellent internal consistency among female undergraduate students (˛ General = .96 and ˛ Perceived Pressures = .92; Thompson et al., 2004). In the current study, Cronbach’s alphas were .85 and .91 for the General Internalization and Perceived Pressures subscales, respectively.
Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS). The MCSDS (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) contains 33 items assessing socially desirable responding such as “No matter who I’m listening to, I’m always a good listener.” All items are answered with True or False which are scored as 0 or 1 depending on the item, and summed such that higher total scores indicate greater endorsement of socially desirable responses. The MCSDS is reported to have good internal consistency among undergraduate students (˛ = .88; Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). In the current study, Cronbach’s alpha was .80.
Demographics questionnaire. Participants were directed to one of two demographics questionnaires depending on their religious affiliation. Both questionnaires inquired about background information such as the participant’s age, ethnicity, immigration status, country of birth, and manner of dress, but the latter portion varied between the two questionnaires. Women who identified themselves as Muslim were asked to rate how often they wear various types of clothing when in a public setting from 0 (never) to 4 (always). Dress options listed in the study were: Western dress (e.g., t-shirts, jeans, etc.), non-North American traditional clothing (e.g., salwar-kameez and saris, garments worn by South Asian women) without the hijab, long skirts and full-sleeved shirts without the hijab, Western dress with the hijab, non-North American traditional dress with the hijab, long skirts and full-sleeved shirts with the hijab, the jilbab/abayah, and the niqab. Participants who did not identify themselves as Muslim also were asked to rate how often they wear various types of clothing when in a public setting from 0 (never) to 4 (always), to equalize groups and reduce any potential response biases. Non-Muslim participants’ dress options only included “Western dress” and “religious clothing.” Ratings were used for the purpose of categorizing participants by the type of clothing they reported wearing most frequently, as described in the Results section.
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Procedure Participants were recruited for the present study via advertisements on an undergraduate psychology participant pool and on social media websites (e.g., Facebook). Advertisements also were given to the leaders of student groups at the university and emailed to members of a local mosque. The advertisements were circulated in an urban area and indicated that participation in the study was restricted to Canadian women between the ages of 18 and 25 years old who were immigrants to Canada or the daughters of immigrant parents. The latter criterion was included to ensure all participants had a heritage culture, as acculturation refers to a process of cultural change. Overall, 224 individuals accessed the online study, 96 of whom were recruited from the participant pool and 128 from other recruitment methods (e.g., social media or student groups). However, only 143 met the aforementioned inclusion criteria, as well as completed all of the predictor measures and at least one criterion measure. After completing the appropriate demographic questionnaire, participants completed the remaining questionnaires in randomized order, and then reported their weight and height. Participants who were registered in the participant pool were compensated with 0.5 credits for their participation, and those who were not were entered in a raffle for a chance to win one of three $10 gift cards. This study was approved by the University’s Departmental Research Ethics Board. Results Preliminary Analyses The assumptions of multiple regression first were assessed. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test revealed that BMI, the MCSDS, VIA-Heritage, VIA-mainstream, and BMMRS were not normally distributed (all ps < .01), although skewness and kurtosis were within ±3 and ±10, respectively (Kline, 2010). Independence of residuals was assessed via the Durbin-Watson statistic, and all statistics were close to the accepted value of 2, indicating that this assumption was met. However, the assumptions of linearity and homoscedasticity were not met. Thus, all regressions were conducted using bootstrapping, given that this technique can be employed as a strategy to obtain more accurate estimates when two or more assumptions are violated (Tavakol & Wilcox, 2013). Correlations Table 1 contains the Pearson correlations, means, and standard deviations of all the variables included in the present study. As
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predicted, higher levels of appearance satisfaction were associated with greater endorsement of women’s heritage culture and greater religiosity. However, appearance satisfaction was not associated with lower levels of mainstream acculturation (i.e., Canadian culture). Additionally, weight satisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal were not significantly correlated with religiosity or acculturation to either the mainstream or heritage culture. Perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards was positively correlated with mainstream acculturation, as predicted.
Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 Results To determine whether religious identity, religiosity, mainstream and heritage acculturation, and the interaction between religious identity and religiosity were associated with body esteem (i.e., appearance satisfaction and weight satisfaction), thin-ideal internalization, and perceived pressure to adhere to media’s beauty standards, four linear regressions with bootstrapping were conducted. Covariates (i.e., BMI, social desirability) were entered into the first block. The second block contained the dummy codes for religious identity, where 0 and 1 represented non-Muslim and Muslim participants, respectively. Religiosity, heritage acculturation, and mainstream acculturation also were included in the second block. Finally, the interaction between religious identity and religiosity was added into the third block. All predictors were centered prior to being included in the regression analyses to avoid multicollinearity between the predictors and interaction (Field, 2009). The final regression models are presented in Tables 2 and 3. The unstandardized regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals presented in these tables are based on 10,000 samples drawn randomly with replacement from our dataset. Table 2 provides a summary of the final regression model with appearance satisfaction as the criterion variable. Step 1 which controlled for BMI and social desirability was significant, F(2, 140) = 11.87, p < .001, accounting for 14.5% of the variance in appearance satisfaction and both variables significantly predicted appearance satisfaction. Adding in religious identity, religiosity, mainstream and heritage acculturation in Step 2 did not significantly contribute to the variance in appearance satisfaction, F(4, 136) = 1.59, p = .181. Heritage acculturation was approaching significance in Step 2, t(136) = 2.16, p = .057, although it was nonsignificant in Step 3 (p = .084) where the interaction between religious identity and religiosity was added. Step 3 did not significantly contribute to the variance in appearance satisfaction, F(1, 135) = 0.40, p = .529. Table 2 also provides a summary of the final regression model with weight satisfaction as the criterion variable. Step 1 which controlled for BMI and social desirability was significant, F(2,
Table 1 Zero-order correlations between variables and covariates (N = 143). 1 1. BMI 2. Social desirability 3. Appearance satisfaction 4. Weight satisfaction 5. General internalization 6. Perceived pressure 7. Heritage acculturation 8. Mainstream acculturation 9. Religiosity M (SD) a * **
=.002. p < .05. p < .01.
2
1.00
.01 1.00
23.05 4.48
17.67 5.45
3 −.29** .25** 1.00
22.78 7.67
4 −.59** .00a .54** 1.00
16.10 7.59
5 .25** −.28** −.59** −.44** 1.00
18.97 8.85
6 .32** −.27** −.50** −.44** .75** 1.00
15.28 7.07
7
8
9
.01 .27** .23* −.11 −.14 −.16 1.00
.11 −.12 −.10 −.10 .15 .21** .20* 1.00
−.13 .26** .19* .08 −.09 −.04 .21* −.31** 1.00
6.14 2.05
6.88 1.74
0.00 0.62
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Table 2 Summary of final hierarchical regression analysis for BESAA subscales: appearance satisfaction and weight satisfaction (N = 143). Variable
BMI Social desirability Religious identitya Religiosity Heritage acculturation Mainstream acculturation Religiosity × Religious identitya a
Appearance satisfaction
Weight satisfaction
b
95% CI
SE b
ˇ
p
sr2
b
95% CI
SE b
ˇ
p
sr2
−0.481 0.251 0.627 1.005 0.654 −0.268 −1.600
−0.711, −0.195 0.011, 0.481 −2.597, 3.995 −2.031, 3.790 −0.071, 1.384 −1.105, 0.575 −7.488, 3.606
0.131 0.121 1.701 1.478 0.376 0.430 2.780
−.281 .178 .041 .081 .175 −.061 −.072
.000 .039 .709 .499 .084 .536 .559
.077 .028 .001 .003 .024 .003 .002
−0.996 0.039 −0.491 0.536 −0.422 −0.046 −0.183
−1.352, −0.771 −0.144, 0.227 −3.677, 2.781 −2.077, 2.929 −0.935, 0.120 −0.797, 0.731 −5.621, 5.108
0.148 0.093 1.661 1.280 0.271 0.386 2.733
−.588 .028 −.032 .044 −.114 −.011 −.008
.000 .669 .766 .680 .120 .907 .949
.336 .001 .001 .001 .010
