Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Internalized Diet Culture

1 online resource (143 pages) : PDF

2020

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Scholars argue that a unique diet culture exists in Westernized nations which conflates health outcomes and moral character, by attaching morality to food choices, eating and exercising behaviors, and physical appearance. Several seemingly separate fields of research have recently emerged that examine specific aspects of these cultural attitudes and ideologies reflective of Westernized diet culture, such as thin ideal internalization and internalized food values. However, there remains a substantial need for a more thorough understanding of the nature of this "diet culture" and how these idealized body types and eating and exercising behaviors become internalized as part of an individual’s intrapersonal identity. Thus, drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological framework and myriad feminist and internalization theories, the first aim of this dissertation was to describe the conceptualization of "internalized diet culture" (IDC) and delineates its nomological network. The second aim of this dissertation was to develop and begin to validate a standardized system of measurement that assesses the degree to which individuals have internalized diet culture. Across two separate studies, data from subject matter experts and 896 participants were used to develop a four-factor model and standardized measure of IDC. Providing evidence of validity, the Internalized Diet Culture Scale (IDCS) global score and most subscale scores were (a) positively related to disordered eating behaviors, thin idealization, weight bias internalization, fatphobia, and body shame and surveillance, (b) negatively related to intuitive eating, body satisfaction, flexible views of beauty, self-esteem, and self-compassion, and (c) negligibly related to social desirability. The empirical and applied implications of the conceptualization of IDC, as well as the development of the IDCS, are discussed.

doctoral dissertations

Social sciences--Research

Ph.D.

Diet
Diet Culture
Disordered Eating
Internalization
Internalized Diet Culture
Thin Idealization

Health Psychology

Reeve, Charlie

Webb, Jennifer
Powers, Kelly
Rasmussen, Lisa

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2020.

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Morris_uncc_0694D_12349

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2619