Drive for Thinness in Adolescent Women

Abstract

The purposes of the present study were to construct a Drive for Thinness (DFT) Scale, and to examine the effects of psychological factors on the drive for thinness. In the present study, "drive for thinness" was a defined as a psychological desire to lose weight and a motive for dieting. 500 adolescent women responded on the Drive for Thinness Scale and another questionnaire. The reliability and validity of the Drive for Thinness Scale were verified. The results showed that drive for thinness was positively correlated with a sense of gain and loss in one's own body, being praised, and sex-role acceptance, and negatively correlated with self-esteem and feelings of stress. These psychological factors influenced the drive for thinness via the sense of merit about losing weight. Three channels that heighten women's drive for thinness were discussed.