The relation between self-silencing, appearance investment, body dissatisfaction, and thin-ideal internalization: A moderated mediation model

摘要

Abstract Women tend to self-silence in their intimate relationships, meaning that they ignore their needs, to put their partner first (Dill, 2011). A connection between self-silencing and body dissatisfaction has been demonstrated (Fleury, 2004; Buchholz, Henderson, Hounsell, Wagner, Norris, u26 Spettigue, 2007), but the mechanism of this association remains unclear. Women who self-silence in their intimate relationships search for agency in other domains, one of them being appearance. These women may become more invested in their appearance, their increased body scrutiny making flaws more salient, ultimately resulting in increased body dissatisfaction. This study will examine the possible explanatory effect of appearance investment, which will be tested as a potential mediator between self-silencing and body dissatisfaction. Further, thin-ideal internalization, the extent to which one accepts society’s values of thinness and beauty (Thompson u26 Stice, 2001), will be tested as a moderator for the above model. Undergraduate women (N = 120) recruited from the University of Windsor Participant Pool will complete a battery of questionnaires -- the Silencing the Self Scale, the Appearance Schemas Inventory Revised, the Eating Disorder Inventory 2, and the Sociocultural Attitudes toward Appearance 3. It is expected that participants who self-silence more in their romantic relationships will be more invested in their body image, which will lead to body dissatisfaction. Furthermore, women higher in thin-ideal internalizations are expected to show a stronger association between self-silencing, appearance investment, and body dissatisfaction than will women low in thin-ideal internalizations. Keywords: self-silencing, body dissatisfaction, appearance investment, thin-ideal internalization