Pressure to be Thin from a Religious Source Increases Perceived Pressure to be Thin in Women

Abstract

Pressure to be thin through thin-idealization norms is something that women contend with daily in today’s world. Increased research has explored the effects this pressure can have on attitudes about the self. Religious beliefs and behaviors have been linked to decreased perceived pressure and positive body attitudes and behaviors. However, religious beliefs and behaviors have also been linked to negative outcomes in this area. This study explores the impact of pressure to be thin from a religious source. One hundred fifty-three women were either presented with pressure statements from a religious source, a family/friend source, or read no pressure statements. Women who read religious pressure statements reported more pressure to be thin than those in the control or family/friend pressure conditions.

Keywords

thin-idealization pressure to be thin religious priming

Feeling pressure from norms and close others to alter our thoughts, bodies, and behaviors seems to be one of the ubiquitous qualities of being human. Few of these pressures strike as hard or thoroughly as the pressure to be thin felt by women in our society. Socialized gender norms promoting thin-idealization put pressure on women to have unrealistic body types which can be associated with increased levels of body dissatisfaction (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). A staggering 91% of women aged 25–89 years endorsed at least some body dissatisfaction in a recent survey of Americans (Runfola et al., 2013), and emerging body dissatisfaction has been seen in girls as young as 5 years (Davidson et al., 2000). Harmful exposure to thin-idealization norms often comes from the media (Groesz et al., 2002), but other sources can be just as damaging. Pressure from family and friends has been positively correlated with both the drive to be thin (Jones et al., 2019) and body dissatisfaction (Johnson et al., 2015). This study explores the impact of a different potential source of pressure: religious leaders and teachings.

A major focus of the extant literature has been on how exposure to thin media images and thin-idealization norms are linked with increased body dissatisfaction (Grabe et al., 2008; Groesz et al., 2002; Homan, 2012). Exposure to thin ideals has been linked to an immediate increase in negative self-evaluation (Karpiak & Stratigis, 2016) and decreased body appreciation (Homan & Tylka, 2015). Exposure to thin-idealization norms can also increase the likelihood of forming upward social comparisons which can increase the risk of developing body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors (Fitzsimmons-Craft et al., 2014). In addition, body dissatisfaction has been shown to be predictive of decreased well-being (Mond et al., 2013), increased risk of developing an eating disorder (Ruble et al., 2006), and reported suicide attempts (Rodríguez-Cano et al., 2006).

The sociocultural perspective has increasingly become the major way body image issues have been pursued and studied (Hall & Boyatzis, 2016). Within this perspective, media is only one of the culprits that can have a negative impact on body-related attitudes. Hall and Boyatzis (2016) acknowledge that religious teachings and ideas can have substantial influences in this area. A recent meta-analysis on religious priming highlights how religious ideas and norms can be incorporated into the lives of those who identify as religious and influence attitudes and prosocial behaviors (Shariff et al., 2016). Exploring different religious traditions, there is ample history of religious eating behaviors and religious practices such as fasting and dietary restrictions that relate directly to how one sees their body in relation to the divine.

Positive Impacts of Religion on Attitudes about the Body

General religious belief has been associated with many positive body attitudes and behaviors. In response to norms and pressure, religious beliefs have been shown to offer a level of protection for participants who use the approval of others as the basis of their self-esteem (Inman et al., 2016). Women report using religious beliefs and practices to counter distress over body image (Jacobs-Pilipski et al., 2005), and women who thought of their bodies in terms of positive religious qualities also had higher body image ratings (Mahoney et al., 2005). One treatment program for women with eating disorders found that as religious well-being increased, positive body shape attitudes increased (Smith et al., 2003). Religious behaviors have been connected to improved attitudes about one’s body and negatively correlated with body dissatisfaction (Patton et al., 2014). Ruiz and Acevedo (2015) found that increased church attendance was related to lower perceptions of being overweight for women, and more church attendance and participation has been related to better self-acceptance and more body satisfaction (Kim, 2007).

Boyatzis et al. (2007) explored the impact of theistic body-affirmation statements on women’s attitudes about their appearance. Participants read body-affirmation statements written from a theistic perspective (e.g., Because I am a child of God, I am perfect and whole and my body is perfect and whole), a spiritual perspective (e.g., With love and joy, I am able to accept and embrace the body that I have), or a neutral perspective that offered no affirmation (e.g., Many local businesses advertise regularly in the campus newspaper and occasionally send messages through the campus email system). All participants were then presented with images of thin models to prime thin-idealization norms. A pre/post design was used to see changes in the women’s attitudes about their appearance and their weight. No effects were seen for attitudes about weight, but women who read the theistic body-affirmation statements had significantly increased attitudes about their appearance as compared to the control condition. Women who read the spiritual affirmation statements had marginally increased attitudes about their appearance compared to the control condition. A conceptual replication with men found that theistic body-affirmations did not affect men’s body esteem, but religious commitment was shown to be a protective factor for overweight men against negative body esteem (Inman, 2014).

Inman et al. (2016) sought to further understand the impact of reading theistic body-affirmations by tracking body and weight esteem over two sessions. Participants first completed a pretest assessing their body and weight esteem. Two weeks later, participants were presented with theistic, spiritual, or neutral statements taken from Boyatzis et al. (2007). Participants were next asked to summarize the statements, and then, all participants viewed images of fashion models. Finally, they completed a task measuring their body esteem and feelings of being loved and accepted. Participants who read the theistic body-affirmations reported feeling loved at increased levels. Feeling more loved was related to increased weight esteem. The theistic body-affirmations were found to have an indirect effect on how women felt about themselves.

Negative Impacts of Religion on Attitudes about the Body

Religious behaviors and beliefs can have very constructive effects on attitudes about the body, but there is also a history of a more destructive relationship. Strenger et al. (2016) theorize that religious teachings can even provide language to link food and morality (e.g., desserts as sinfully decadent). Hall and Thoennes (2006) highlight two views of the body and the religious sphere. The dualistic perspective states that the material world, including the body, is inherently evil, while the spirit is good. Here, distance from the body is seen positively. This cognitive separation of the body and spirit can influence how individuals think about themselves and religious ideas. This form of dualism negatively correlated with body appreciation and positively correlated with body surveillance and body shame (Jacobson et al., 2016). One study even shows that people reported increased feelings of discomfort when thinking about the idea that Jesus had a body (Beck, 2008). A second perspective states that the body and soul are linked and best seen as a whole unit where body and soul can have reciprocal effects on each other. By focusing on aspects such as unconditional love or the sacredness of the body, this second perspective may provide a narrative that goes against the thin-idealized norm (Jacobson et al., 2013).

Increased interest in the potential negative impact of religion on health has begun to highlight some of the dangerous consequences of religious belief on attitudes about the body. Links between struggles with the divine, problematic eating behaviors, and body image issues have been established (Exline et al., 2016). Manipulating the type of religious message participants read, Karpiak and Stratigis (2016) found that participants who read authoritarian religious messages reported decreased body esteem over those who read compassionate messages. Anxious attachment to God (ATG) has been implicated in this area as well. Women with low anxious ATG were less vulnerable to sociocultural pressure as seen through eating disorder symptoms (Strenger et al., 2016). Anxious ATG has also been shown to increase the negative correlation between social comparisons and body appreciation, while a secure ATG was related to a lessening of this relationship (Homan & Lemmon, 2016).

Religious behaviors can also negatively impact attitudes about the body. In a sample of Black Protestants, Yeary et al., (2018) found evidence that negative religious support predicted higher body mass index (BMI). Another study found increased bulimic behaviors reported by individuals using negative religious coping techniques (Buser, 2013). As the above review highlights, the effects of religious thought are nuanced and can go in opposite directions. Forthun et al. (2003) exemplify this idea as they found that an intrinsic religiosity orientation buffered against family history of risk for eating disorders, while an extrinsic religious orientation exacerbated the issue.

The Current Study

The various directions of the effects of religion seen in the literature may be due to the focus and affective nature of the religious thoughts or behaviors. There tends to be positive effects when the religious thought is framed as constructive (e.g., positive coping techniques; Kim, 2006) and negative effects when the religious thought is framed as destructive (e.g., negative coping techniques; Buser, 2013). One can envision the use of purely constructive religious beliefs to empower and benefit individuals. However, there is ample evidence that religious thought is not wielded in a strictly positive manner. Religious texts and belief structures have been intentionally interpreted to denigrate others or maintain power structures (e.g., misogyny, slavery, genocide). It is important that we more fully understand the causal impacts of destructive negative religious influences. Most of the studies available in the literature are correlational in nature. This study seeks to empirically test for potential negative outcomes when individuals are asked to think about pressure to be thin coming from a religious perspective. Researchers have highlighted that most of the findings in this area are based on samples that are primarily made up of White women (Hall & Boyatzis, 2016). This study utilizes a sample that is primarily made up of nontraditional students that identified as Latinx or Black. Many studies exploring the effects of religious thought and belief on attitudes about the body are done at religious institutions. This study utilizes a sample of religious individuals from a state university.

Grabe et al. (2008) highlight that media awareness and social influence are key factors in the formation of thin-ideal norms in young women. Aspects of negative religiosity (e.g., anxious ATG, negative religious coping) have been linked to increases in problematic attitudes about the body and eating behaviors. This study explores the idea that the effects of sociocultural pressure to be thin may be heightened if coming from a negative religious perspective. Building off the work of Boyatzis et al. (2007) and Inman et al. (2016), participants were presented with theistic statements, family/friend-related statements, or neutral statements. Instead of body-affirmations, though, women were presented with pressure-inducing statements. If experiencing pressure from a religious source has a heightened effect on women’s attitudes about themselves and their bodies, we expect to see more negative influences in the religious condition than in the family/friend or neutral conditions. We tested the following hypotheses:

H1. Participants primed with religious pressure to be thin would experience increased pressure to be thin over participants primed with family/friend pressure to be thin and those without any given pressure.

H2. Participants primed with religious pressure to be thin would experience more negative psychological outcomes such as less perceived closeness to God, more negative affect, and more body dissatisfaction.

Method

Participants

Students from a large urban Southern university were recruited through the psychology undergraduate research pool. Participants received credit toward a course requirement. Two hundred eighty-one students completed the research protocol. Fifty-nine of the participants identified as male. Although men are affected by body dissatisfaction (Quick et al., 2013), these feelings are often triggered by different stimuli than in women (Inman, 2014). Because of this, only participants that identified as female were used in the final analysis. Thirty-six individuals were missing data vital to the analysis.

Due to the nature of the primes used here, only participants that self-identified within the Christian religious tradition were included; thus, the final data set consisted of 153 participants. Thirty-seven percent of the participant self-identified as Catholic, 36% identified as Christian—other (most labeling themselves as nondenominational), 16% identified as Baptist, 5% identified as Pentecostal, 3% identified as Methodist, and the remainder of participants identified in groups such as Episcopalian and Lutheran. The decision to include only self-identified Christians is in light of a recent meta-analysis that highlighted religious primes have inconsistent effects on those that identify outside of the religious tradition (Shariff et al., 2016).

The average age of participants was 25.8 years (SD = 8.24) with a range of 18–56. Forty-eight percent of participants self-identified as Hispanic/Latinx, 33% as Black/African American, 9% as Caucasian/White, 5% as multi-ethnic, 3% as Asian, and 3% chose to not reveal their ethnicity. The breakdown in the current sample is a close approximation of the undergraduate makeup of the university where data were collected.

Materials

Primes

In this study, participants were presented with primes related to pressure to be thin from a religious leader/the divine, pressure to be thin from family/friends, or no pressure. The priming statements were adapted from Boyatzis et al.’s (2007) religious, spiritual, and control passages. For the religious priming condition, the religious passages from Boyatzis et al. (2007) were adapted. The original statements were body-affirmations and were restructured here to be statements inducing pressure to be thin by either the divine or a religious leader in the religious prime condition (e.g., “The spirit of God is expressed in my body, and therefore, my pastor pressures me to treat it with reverence and respect”). Due to the sense of connection and community inherent in the spiritual passages, they were adapted for the friends and family pressure condition (e.g., “In order to be accepted by family and friends, we need to remember that we are not perfect and that our bodies are not perfect”). The control passages were not changed and used as the no-pressure condition. Each prime consisted of 15 statements.

This study was done using the SurveyMonkey platform. Instead of having participants read the statements aloud, they were asked to retype the statements to ensure they engaged each statement. Participants were instructed to think about how the statements could apply to their lives as they retyped them.

Images

Following conventions from previous research (Boyatzis et al., 2007; Homan, 2012; Inman et al., 2016), images of attractive, thin women were used as stimuli to induce thin-idealization norms. The models appeared to be 20–30 years old. Each image contained a single female wearing clothing that accentuated their thinness. Images were found using the search terms “thin female model” and came from noncopyrighted sources. None of the images featured sexually suggestive clothing. The ethnicities of the models were identified as Black, Latinx, and White. A group of ethnically diverse female research assistants reviewed and rated the images for perceptions of thinness and attractiveness. The images used were rated similarly on perceptions of thinness and attractiveness.

All participants viewed these images so that thin-idealization norms would be active in each condition. While viewing each model during the experiment, participants were asked to rate how attractive they found her and how much they would like to have her body. These questions served as a filler task so that participants would view each image for a sufficient amount of time. No main effect for pressure condition was seen on any of the filler questions, ps > .05. A main effect of ethnicity was seen on the question related to how much they would like to have the model’s body. The only difference was seen between Black and Latinx individuals. Black individuals rated wanting to have the model’s body less than Latinx individuals. Neither the Black nor the Latinx group differed from the other groupings. No interactions between pressure condition and ethnicity were found.

Measures

Perceived pressure to be thin

To assess typical pressure to be thin, participants completed the Perceived Sociocultural Pressure Scale (PSPS) (Stice & Bearman, 2001). This scale measures the degree of pressure from family, friends, and the media with a range of 1 (none) to 5 (a lot). Participants were asked to rate how much they agree or disagreed with each statement. Sample statements included, “I’ve felt pressure from the media (e.g., TV, magazines) to lose weight” and “I’ve felt pressure from my friends to lose weight.” The PSPS is a validated measured used to measure general sociocultural pressure. Although it does not ask about pressure from religious sources, it is predicted to be general enough to pick up changes in pressure from other sources.

Body dissatisfaction

Adapting the visual analogue scale (VAS) developed by Heinberg and Thompson (1995), body dissatisfaction was measured using a single question. Participants were asked to rate how dissatisfied they were with their bodies on a scale of 1 (completely satisfied) to 100 (completely dissatisfied). Instead of drawing on a line where they felt their body dissatisfaction was, they simply applied a numerical value. The VAS has been shown to be effective in detecting differences in body dissatisfaction across experimental manipulations and primes (Homan, 2012; McLean et al., 2016).

Spiritual experiences

To test if the perceived pressure would have effects on perceived closeness to the Divine, participants completed the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES) (Underwood & Teresi, 2002). The DSES is a self-report measure that focuses on how often one has experiences that are typically thought of as transcendent. Sample items include, “I feel God’s presence” and “I feel deep inner peace or harmony.” Participants rated each of these items on a Likert-type scale from one to six with lower numbers indicating experiencing this feeling more often. Items in the DSES use the term God, but participants are encouraged to substitute this concept with one more comfortable to them that conjures the idea of the divine or holy if needed. Higher scores on the DSES indicate feeling increased distance from the divine.

Negative affect

To test whether the perceived pressure would have effects on subsequent affect, participants completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) (Watson et al., 1988). Participants responded to 20 affect laden terms—10 positive and 10 negative—and rated how much each term described how they felt. Responses were on a 1–5 Likert-type scale with larger numbers indicating feeling that concept more. A single affect rating was created by reverse-scoring positive affect items.

Procedure

This study was listed on the university’s Sona research participation site. Students interested in participating were sent a link to the SurveyMonkey platform. At the onset of the study, participants were asked to give consent by electronic signature. After consenting, participants were told that they would be taking part in a series of unrelated tasks for different professors in the psychology department and that the order of items they were asked to do was randomized. The first task was an attention check which asked participants to select the first item in a list of choices. This list was randomized and served as the mechanism to randomize assignment to the different conditions. Participants interacted with statements concerning pressure to be thin from a religious source, pressure to be thin from a family/friend source, or neutral statements that conveyed no pressure to be thin. Participants were asked to retype 15 statements while thinking about how the statement could apply to their lives. After completing the priming task, participants were shown the images of the six models and asked the filler questions so that participants would view each image for at least 10 seconds. After the model ratings, participants were asked to rate how dissatisfied they were with their own bodies. Participants then completed the PSPS, the DSES, and the PANAS. Finally, participants were asked demographic information, debriefed, and thanked for their time. This study was approved by the local institutional review board and maintained all the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association.

Results

To test if priming religious pressure to be thin would create additional perceived pressure to be thin and increased negative psychological outcomes, a one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted on the PSPS, reported body dissatisfaction, the DSES, and affect with priming condition as the single factor (religious pressure, family/friend pressure, or no pressure). Analysis revealed an effect of priming condition on the PSPS, F(2, 114) = 4.18, p = .018, partial η² = .068, see Table 1. Subsequent pairwise comparisons revealed participants primed with religious pressure to be thin reported more perceived pressure to be thin (M = 2.33, SD = 1.01) than either the family/friend pressure prime (M = 1.85, SD = 0.91) or the no-pressure group (M = 1.83, SD = 0.73), ps < .05, supporting H1. No difference was seen between the family/friend pressure and no-pressure groups. Effects were not seen for affect, body dissatisfaction, or closeness to the divine.

Table 1.

Summary of MANOVA with Pressure Condition as Factor.

	df	F	p value	M (SE)
Perceived pressure	2	4.18	.018
No pressure				1.83 (0.16)
Family/friend pressure				1.85 (0.15)
Religious pressure				2.34 (0.13)
Body dissatisfaction	2	1.84	.164
No pressure				40.88 (5.07)
Family/friend pressure				29.43 (4.86)
Religious pressure				40.57 (4.36)
Perceived closeness to the divine (DSES)	2	.772	.465
No pressure				2.67 (0.19)
Family/friend pressure				2.42 (0.18)
Religious pressure				2.69 (0.16)
Affect	2	2.04	.135
No pressure				3.88 (0.11)
Family/friend pressure				3.71 (0.10)
Religious pressure				3.60 (0.09)

MANOVA: multivariate analysis of variance; DSES: Daily Spiritual Experience Scale.

Higher perceived pressure scores indicate more perceived pressure. Higher body dissatisfaction scores indicate more body dissatisfaction. Higher DSES scores indicate more distance from the divine. Higher affect scores indicate more positive affect.

H2 put forward the prediction that religious priming could have an exacerbating effect on experiencing negative psychological outcomes. Participants primed with religious pressure reported experiencing more perceived pressure, but no effects were seen for other negative outcomes. Pressure to be thin has been shown to have direct impacts on body dissatisfaction (Stice et al., 2003). To test if religious pressure had an exacerbating effect on other psychological outcomes, moderation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2017) with PSPS scores used as the predictor variable and priming condition as the moderator. Moderation analyses were conducted for body dissatisfaction, perceived closeness to the divine, and affect. For ratings of body dissatisfaction, the overall model was significant, R² = .163, F(5, 139) = 8.12, p < .001. The interaction terms did not reach significance; thus, evidence of moderation was not found, see Table 2. For perceived closeness to the divine, the overall model was marginally significant, R² = .072, F(5, 120) = 2.09, p = .071. PSPS scores were a significant predictor, p = .034. As perceived pressure increased, closeness to the divine decreased. Evidence of moderation was not seen. For reported affect, the overall model was significant, R² = .125, F(5, 130) = 3.96, p = .002; however, evidence of moderation was not seen. Consistent with previous research, perceived pressure predicted other negative outcomes; however, evidence that religious pressure would exacerbate this relationship was not found.

Table 2.

Summary of Moderation Analyses with Perceived Pressure to be Thin as Predictor and Pressure Condition as Moderator.

	b	SE	t	p value
Body dissatisfaction
Constant	41.82	4.45	9.39	.001
PSPS	5.47	6.62	0.83	.410
No press vs. family/friend press (W1)	−9.75	5.69	−1.71	.089
No press vs. religious press (W2)	−3.70	5.85	−0.63	.528
PSPS × W1	8.02	7.16	1.12	.265
PSPS × W2	7.97	7.62	1.05	.298
Perceived closeness to the divine (DSES)
Constant	2.77	0.17	15.86	.001
PSPS	0.45	0.21	2.15	.034
No press vs. family/friend press (W1)	−0.38	0.23	−1.65	.101
No press vs. religious press (W2)	−0.25	0.23	−1.08	.284
PSPS × W1	−0.44	0.25	−1.79	.076
PSPS × W2	−0.14	0.28	−0.50	.621
Affect
Constant	3.81	0.09	41.59	.001
PSPS	−0.21	0.12	−1.75	.083
No press vs. family/friend press (W1)	−0.15	0.13	−1.11	.267
No press vs. religious press (W2)	−0.17	0.12	−1.48	.140
PSPS × W1	−0.08	0.15	−0.52	.602
PSPS × W2	0.04	0.14	0.28	.778

PSPS: Perceived Sociocultural Pressure Scale; DSES: Daily Spiritual Experience Scale.

Higher body dissatisfaction scores indicate more body dissatisfaction. Higher DSES scores indicate more distance from the divine. Higher affect scores indicate more positive affect.

Discussion

This study sought to further understand the ways in which religious thought and belief could have negative impacts on women’s attitudes about themselves. Specifically, this study examined how a negatively focused religious prime could influence the amount of pressure women felt to be thin. To accomplish this, women read theistic pressure statements, family/friend pressure statements, or neutral statements. To induce thin-idealization norms across all conditions, participants also viewed images of models. Participants who viewed the theistic pressure statements reported feeling significantly more pressure to be thin than those primed with family/friend pressure or no pressure. Further analyses showed that pressure to be thin predicted body dissatisfaction, affect, and marginally closeness to the divine. Religious pressure did not have a greater impact than family/friend pressure.

Support for H1 was found in this study. Women who read statements concerning pressure to be thin from a religious source reported the highest levels of perceived pressure to be thin. This study is one of the first to manipulate the type of negative statements given while examining the differential effects on attitudes about body image and the self. The results highlight that exposure to pressure from a religious leader or religious teaching should be avoided as it can create even more pressure to be thin. We suggest that the religious statements may be activating the dualistic perspective discussed by Hall and Thoennes (2006) where the body is seen as inherently evil. By activating a dualistic perspective, the religious statements may have caused women to introduce additional attention and scrutiny to their bodies. Self-surveillance of this nature has been linked to negative impacts on body image and self-esteem (Calogero & Pina, 2011). Body image and self-esteem are closely tied together for women (Grabe et al., 2008). Women who feel more discrepancy between their body and thin-idealized norms report decreased self-esteem and more body dissatisfaction (Yu & Jung, 2018). Just as a secure relationship with the divine has been shown to be a protective factor against common pressures (Homan, 2012), direct negative statements from a religious perspective seem to have produced more pressure over other sources. The activation of the dualistic perspective and its relationship with pressure from a religious source is hypothesized here and should be directly tested in future research.

The religious pressure statements used in this study were designed to leave little room for doubt or hedging by the reader. The statements indicate that the reader is not perfect and that the divine expects perfection. This structure may force a division between the body and the spirit in participants’ minds. Their body is now inferior and imperfect. They are tasked with resolving this. While this sort of division may seem harsh and unnecessary, we argue that many women hear these types of statements regularly from religious leaders and literature. One needs only to look at the Purity movement in Evangelical denominations as an example. Young girls are taught that their bodies are obstacles to the godly lives of men (Klein, 2018). Through such practices as purity balls, rings, and pledges, women are expected to accept their inherent sinful nature and police themselves.

Support for H2 was not found in this study. Analysis revealed that women in the religious priming condition did not have higher levels of body dissatisfaction, negative affect, or reduced closeness to the divine. Follow-up analyses did reveal that perceived pressure moderated by pressure condition did explain a significant amount of variance for body dissatisfaction and affect and a marginal amount for closeness to the divine. As pressure to be thin increased, participants reported feeling more body dissatisfaction, more negative affect, and less closeness to the divine. Type of pressure did not moderate this relationship. While religious pressure did create more perceived pressure to be thin, the pressure created was not more harmful than other forms of pressure in this study. This study is in line with previous research that highlights the negative impacts perceived pressure from important figures in their lives such as parents and partners can have on young women’s attitudes about their bodies (Johnson et al., 2015; Jones et al., 2019).

This study also sought to add to the literature by utilizing a more diverse sample. This study was primarily composed of women who identify within a minority group. The images used in the study were purposely diverse in nature to avoid simply activating majority norms, but it cannot be avoided that thin-idealization norms are currently driven by White beauty standards (Harper & Choma, 2019). The current work adds to the literature highlighting the far-reaching impact of thin-idealization norms beyond the typical White sample. The current sample, though, does not allow for a full analysis of questions related to differences based upon ethnicity. Future research should explore this issue. In addition, many previous studies have been conducted at religious institutions, so questions about generalizability have arisen (e.g., Homan & Lemmon, 2016; Inman, 2014). The current sample was collected at a public, state institution. While only women self-identifying with a Christian tradition were included, this study adds to the diversity of religious backgrounds explored. In particular, little research had been reported in this area with such a significant Catholic presence.

Implications

This study adds evidence to the idea that where pressure to be thin comes from can matter. In this study, pressure from a religious leader or divine figure resulted in more perceived pressure. The source of the pressure did not seem to create a different type of pressure, simply more perceived pressure. Pressure itself seems harmful, but pressure from a religious leader or divine figure could be more harmful if it adds additional amounts of perceived pressure. To this end, one needs to be mindful and aware of pressure’s origin point. As mentioned previously, we believe that women, particularly young women, receive statements of this nature from religious leaders and teachings. For example, in 1 Timothy chapter 9 of the Christian New Testament, women are instructed to dress modestly, remain quiet, and hold no authority over a man. Women are reminded that their bodies are sacred through the act of childbirth and must be kept pure. The implications of this line of thought are simple to follow. Women are pressured to live up to these ideals, and if they do not, then they are sinful and separate from the divine’s mission and purpose. Religious traditions, and sometimes teachings themselves, directly instruct women in the ways they should appear (i.e., long hair, clothes of certain lengths, head coverings). Noncompliance in these areas can be seen as a direct attack on religious commitment levels or can even have ramifications on the eternal salvation of a woman’s soul in some traditions. The current research demonstrates that this type of rhetoric or teaching can have very negative impacts on women. The current research adds initial evidence that this type of pressure can actually cause women to feel more distant from the divine, thus going in the opposite direction than is often intended.

Limitations and future directions

This study adds to the existing literature concerning the potential negative impact religious leaders/teachings could have on women’s attitudes about their bodies. The study is not without limitations though. The current religious prime statements are from the perspective of both the divine and religious leaders. It is reasonable to think that pressure may have different effects if from a human religious leader versus a nonhuman divine figure. In this study, we are unable to distinguish if the effect is driven by pressure from a religious leader, pressure from the divine, or if the religious nature of the prime is itself sufficient. Future research should separate these sources so that a fuller understanding of the effect can be gained.

All participants in this study were primed with thin-idealization norms by viewing images. While this has been the practice in previous studies (Boyatzis et al., 2007; Inman et al., 2016), a full test of whether perceived pressure would exacerbate the negative effects of pressure cannot be realized without a prime group that does not view thin-idealized images. Future research should include a true control condition with no primed norms to examine the full range of effects.

Women in the current analyses self-identified as part of a Christian religious tradition, but this study does not have measures related to concepts such as religious commitment or types of religiosity. Measuring levels of extrinsic/intrinsic religiousness may be of particular importance. Weinberger-Litman et al. (2016) found that heightened extrinsic religiosity was a risk factor for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, while heightened intrinsic religiosity was a protective factor against eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. Individual difference factors can moderate and even mediate relationships such as the ones found in this study (Homan, 2012). Future research should collect more information concerning the participants’ religious beliefs and behaviors. Due to the experimental manipulation involved, this study did not ask these questions prior to the manipulation for fear that questions about their religious ideas could serve as a secondary religious prime. It would be appropriate in future research to collect religious variables of this nature in a pretest form. Also, this study only included women in the final analysis. Future research should examine if this same effect can be found in men. Inman (2014) has shown that men and women may have different reactions to pressure and protective factors. Future research should also expand these findings beyond a sample comprising Christians. As ideas similar to the ones used in this study can be found in other religious traditions, we believe that the findings will hold for other faith groups.

This study did not include a screening for past or present eating disorder diagnosis, treatment, or related behaviors or thoughts. It is likely that those meeting criteria for an eating disorder would have different responses to the thin-idealized images and primes than those that do not meet criteria. It is possible that those meeting criteria for diagnosis with an eating disorder would have a more exacerbated negative reaction. As Forthun et al. (2003) highlight, the type of religiosity associated with the individual could alter the impact as well. Those using positive religious coping skills may see more positive outcomes than individuals using negative religious coping skills. Future studies should not only screen for past and present eating disorders but also compare the impact of religious priming here.

An important future direction to follow involves the effects of attachment styles on the findings of this study. ATG has been shown to moderate the effect of the internalization of the thin body ideal and pressure to be thin when examining body dissatisfaction (Homan & Boyatzis, 2010). A secure ATG can have positive impacts on body image for women and may create a strong model of acceptance (Homan & Lemmon, 2016), and reduced anxious ATG is related to increased body appreciation. Most importantly, a secure ATG has been shown to serve as a protective factor against pressure to be thin (Homan, 2012). Future research should test if a secure ATG can continue to mitigate the effects of thin-idealization pressure, even when that pressure is coming from a religious source.

Conclusion

This study adds to the existing literature as it is the first study we are aware of to experimentally manipulate pressure from a religious source to test for the effects of that pressure on women’s beliefs and attitudes about their body. In this study, pressure from a religious source was found to create more perceived pressure to be thin in women than family/friends or control. This study highlights that the source of pressure to be thin can be important and should be closely monitored. Religious leaders and religious teachings that promote thin-idealization in women can have serious negative consequences in the form of increased pressure to be thin.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article was supported by the Organized Research and Creative Activities grant from the University of Houston–Downtown and the Faculty Funded Leave program.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

This article is based upon research that was approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at the University of Houston–Downtown. Participants in the experiment were treated in accord with American Psychological Association (APA) ethical guidelines. The article has not been published nor is under review for publication elsewhere.

ORCID iD

Travis S. Crone

Author Biographies

Travis S. Crone is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Houston–Downtown. He obtained a PhD in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis in Social and Cognitive Psychology from the University of Arkansas. His research focuses on how elements of religious life can have both constructive and destructive effects on individuals. Currently, he is exploring how elements of nonconscious priming can influence how people evaluate their relationship with God, their perception of moral transgressions, and how they see themselves. He is the primary instructor of the Psychology of Religion course at his institution.

Anisleidys Rivero is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Intern in the State of Texas. She graduated from Houston Baptist University with a Master of Arts degree in Christian Counseling. She works with children, adults, couples, and families and uses an eclectic approach to counseling.

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