Sociocultural influences on body image in Black and White college women

Tera S Mikula, Tennessee State University

Abstract

This study focused on understanding the specific factors that influence body image satisfaction in college-aged Black and White undergraduate females (N = 275). The purpose of this study was threefold. The primary purpose was to validate the Sociocultural Influences Questionnaire (SIQ; McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2001) for Black and White college students from the United States. The second purpose of this study was to adjust the factor structure for both Black and White female college students and develop new overall models of sociocultural influences for each of the two populations. The third purpose, upon completion of the models, was to identify significant sociocultural predictors of body image satisfaction for Black and White female college students. The results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that the fit of the overall models of influences from father, mother, best male friend, best female friend and the media was very similar for both Black and White female students. For both populations, there was a significant difference in the models as compared to the original development of the questionnaire. The current study addressed within group exploration and identification of predictors of body image satisfaction from a multi-dimensional view using both Black and White participants. Implications for past research support and future research directions are discussed.

Subject Area

Social psychology|African Americans|Womens studies

Recommended Citation

Tera S Mikula, "Sociocultural influences on body image in Black and White college women" (2006). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI3222580.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3222580

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