Drive for leanness and health-related behavior within a social/cultural perspective

Abstract

We examined relationships between drive for leanness and perceived media pressure to change appearance, internalization of an ideal physique, exercise frequency, and dieting. Men and women (N=353) completed the Drive for Leanness Scale, the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3, the Eating Attitudes Test-26, and a demographic inventory. Drive for leanness was significantly correlated with athletic internalization (.52), pressure to attain an ideal physique (.25), exercise frequency (.36), and dieting (.25). Structural equation modeling revealed a good fitting model (χ2=2.85, p