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Acculturation, body image, and eating behaviours in Muslim-Australian women

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These issues were explored in a sample of Muslim-Australian women with a multicultural identity; that is, women with a heritage cultural identity distinct from Australian mainstream culture. It is important to note here that Australian culture is typically western in its preoccupation with thinness: many Australian women exhibit concern, even distress, in relation to their body weight and size, and women who have recently migrated to Australia also report being conscious of this preoccupation with thinness and of the role played by western media in promoting thinness (Treloar et al., 1999).
A bi-dimensional acculturation framework was adopted for this study. This framework does not assume that an individual’s cultural identity varies along a single continuum, from pro-heritage to pro-mainstream, over time (see Ryder et al., 2000). This required the measurement of mainstream identification independently of heritage identification (as per Dona and Berry, 1994), and the subsequent comparison of these measures with measures of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating symptomatology. It was hypothesized that mainstream identification would be positively related to, and heritage identification negatively related to, disordered eating symptomatology. Self-esteem and internalization of the thin ideal were examined as psychosocial mediators of these relationships.

Dear Visitors,

Below is a notable study that was published on ScienceDirect.com. Australia is one of the countries with the highest rates of eating disorders worldwide. Muslims make up 3.2% of Australia’s population. Eating disorders affect individuals regardless of their background. We are sharing the study below exclusively for research and informational use.

Acculturation, body image, and eating

behaviours in Muslim-Australian women

 

 

Abstract

The relationship between western acculturation, body dissatisfaction, and eating behaviours was examined in a sample of 101 Muslim-Australian women between 18 and 44 years of age (M=27.3, SD=7.5). A questionnaire was completed containing measures of cultural identification (heritage and mainstream), body dissatisfaction and disordered eating (dietary control, bingeing and purging), internalization of the thin ideal, and self-esteem. A series of path analyses identified significant positive relationships between mainstream identification and the measures of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating that were mediated by thin-ideal internalization. Path analyses also identified significant negative relationships between heritage identification and the measures of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating that were mediated by self-esteem. These results are indicative of the potential risks to body image incurred by women who adopt Western values, and of the benefits in retaining heritage cultural values that promote a positive self image.

Introduction

Western societies reinforce an association between thinness in women and attractiveness, health, social status, and success (Heinberg and Thompson, 1995; Henderson-King and Henderson-King, 1997). Fatness, on the other hand, is associated with gluttony, amorality, and poor self control. It is also conceptualized negatively and narrowly by health agencies as both a cause of disease and a burden on health resources (Evans, 2006). As a result of these negative stereotypes of fatness, “big” women in the west are subject to numerous forms of discrimination (see Colls, 2006). The west’s preoccupation with thinness is also psychologically damaging to women who are of average weight. Exposure to western values of appearance, typically through the mass media, and internalization of the thin ideal (Garner et al., 1980), have been implicated in body dissatisfaction and eating disturbances in these women, such as excessive dietary control, bingeing, and purging (Cusumano and Thompson, 1997; Stice and Agras, 1998).
Internalization of the western thin ideal has also been proposed to explain the rise of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among non-western women. This rise has been documented in the international context in terms of the globalization of western popular culture, increased immigration to the west, and the experiences of ethnic minorities living in the west (e.g., Markey, 2004). Central to this research is the conceptualization of thin-ideal internalization as a manifestation of western acculturation (see Berry, 1997, for review). In the present study this assumption was tested in the context of Muslim women residing in a predominantly western (Australian) society.
Acculturation refers to changes in identity, attitudes, values and behaviours that accompany an individual’s movement from their original or “heritage” culture towards a new and different “mainstream” culture (Ryder et al., 2000). There is evidence to suggest that mainstream identification can include adoption of culturally-mandated ideals of appearance (e.g., Crago and Shisslak, 2003). Unfortunately, acculturation has often been excluded from cross-cultural evaluations of body image and disordered eating (Soh et al., 2006), and where it has been included the effects of acculturation have not been consistent (see meta-analysis by Wildes and Emery, 2001). Furthermore, the few studies that have investigated cross-cultural influences in the context of appearance have focussed on women of Asian, Black, and Hispanic ethnic minorities (e.g., Grabe and Hyde, 2006). There has been less empirical attention on the body image of women from predominantly Muslim cultures and ethnic groups, whose exposure to western values, and/or immigration to the west, has been comparatively recent.
Consistent with the negative effects on body image of western acculturation, it has been observed that Arab-Egyptian women residing in the west report greater rates of disordered eating than Arab women still residing in Egypt (Nasser, 1986). Arab women still residing in the East also report a smaller disparity between self-perceived and ideal body weight and shape (Ford et al., 1990). However, it has been noted in other studies that the negative effects on Muslim women’s body image are far less than would be expected on the basis of their level of exposure to the west (e.g., Abdollahi and Mann, 2001; Nobakht and Dezhkam, 2000). This may be because an Islamic affiliation has a protective effect on body image (Ahmad et al., 1994).
Religion in general may promote positive body image by “insulating” women from western culture’s preoccupation with appearance and weight (Kim, 2007) and orienting them instead towards moral and religious pursuits (Ferraro, 1998). It is also known that membership of, and status within, social groups (presumably this includes religious groups) is an important determinant of self-esteem (Leary and Baumeister, 2000). Through its effects on self-esteem, group membership may serve to mitigate against socio-cultural pressures on appearance (Garner, 2004). In these ways a Muslim woman’s identification with her heritage culture may be as relevant to her body image as her identification with western mainstream culture.
These issues were explored in a sample of Muslim-Australian women with a multicultural identity; that is, women with a heritage cultural identity distinct from Australian mainstream culture. It is important to note here that Australian culture is typically western in its preoccupation with thinness: many Australian women exhibit concern, even distress, in relation to their body weight and size, and women who have recently migrated to Australia also report being conscious of this preoccupation with thinness and of the role played by western media in promoting thinness (Treloar et al., 1999).
A bi-dimensional acculturation framework was adopted for this study. This framework does not assume that an individual’s cultural identity varies along a single continuum, from pro-heritage to pro-mainstream, over time (see Ryder et al., 2000). This required the measurement of mainstream identification independently of heritage identification (as per Dona and Berry, 1994), and the subsequent comparison of these measures with measures of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating symptomatology. It was hypothesized that mainstream identification would be positively related to, and heritage identification negatively related to, disordered eating symptomatology. Self-esteem and internalization of the thin ideal were examined as psychosocial mediators of these relationships.
If vulnerability to the western thin ideal is determined by the extent to which a woman internalizes this ideal (Stice and Shaw, 2002), it follows that thin-ideal internalization should positively mediate the relationships involving mainstream acculturation and disordered eating. Conversely, if heritage identification insulates Muslim women from western mainstream culture, then internalization of the thin ideal should serve to negatively mediate the relationship between heritage identification and disordered eating. Furthermore, if exposure to the thin ideal promotes disordered eating by undermining women’s self-esteem (Harrison and Cantor, 1997), then self-esteem should negatively mediate relationships between heritage identification and disordered eating. No specific prediction was made concerning the role of self-esteem in the context of mainstream identification: even though successful cultural integration has been linked with positive self-esteem (Liebkind et al., 2004; Phinney, 1991), the close association between western mainstream culture and the thin ideal might undermine the benefits of integration in the context of body image.
According to Berry’s acculturation framework (Berry, 1997), an individual can acculturate in one of four ways: “integration” of both sets of cultural values; “assimilation” of mainstream values at the expense of heritage values; “separation” from mainstream values with retention of heritage values; and “marginalization” from both sets of values. To explore the relationship between acculturation state and disordered eating within this framework, the interaction between heritage and mainstream identification was tested as a predictor of disordered eating symptomatology. Applying Berry’s (1997) terminology, it was hypothesized that disordered eating would be most pronounced in women who have “assimilated” western values at the expense of their heritage values, followed by women who have “integrated” western values with their heritage values. It was further hypothesized that women who have “separated” from western values in favour of their heritage values will exhibit the fewest symptoms of disordered eating.
However, the above hypotheses could be criticized for assuming that proximity to, and acceptance of, western values is the sole determinant of body image. The possibility exists that non-western cultures, including those that adhere to Islamic cultural traditions, are themselves potentially damaging to women’s body image (Pedwell, 2007). Douki et al. (2007) review evidence that women in subordinate positions are more prone to a range of mental disorders included eating disorders. They cite numerous ways in which gendered cultural roles that are prevalent in Arab communities and the Muslim world in general may undermine women’s body image. If Muslim cultures impose restrictions on women, for example, mandatory wearing of traditional clothing in public, that serve to oppress women rather than free them from western-style appearance scrutiny, then the predicted direction of the above-mentioned hypotheses may be reversed. That is, heritage identification will be associated with poorer body image and increased disordered eating.
This may be due to the negative impact of traditional Muslim culture on women’s self-esteem (in which case poor self-esteem would be expected to serve as a negative mediator of the relationship between an Islamic identity and body image). Alternatively, it may be due to the emphasis on social conformity in Muslim women. Consider that while a focus on outwards appearance and attractiveness in women is inconsistent with Islam, a woman’s internalization of the thin ideal, as well as her efforts to reduce her body weight, can remain entirely private. For this reason social conformity in Muslim women could include conformity to the western thin ideal (in which case thin-ideal internalization would be expected to serve as a negative mediator of the relationship between an Islamic identity and body image).
Given that both positive and negative consequences of an Islamic cultural identity are possible in the context of body image, the question of whether and how such an identity may impact on women residing in the west must be regarded as an empirical one.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 101 Australian women between 18 and 44 years of age (M=27.3, SD=7.5) who identified Islam as their “current religion”. All had at least one parent whose current religion is Islam, and all were “multicultural” in the sense that their heritage cultural identity was different from Australian mainstream culture: All participants reported having at least one parent born overseas, and all responded to the “heritage” items from the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (Ryder et al., 2000

Data cleaning and variable creation

Analyses were limited to the 101 women who responded “Muslim” or “Islam” to the item: “your current religion”. Univariate outliers were identified for BMI and age and their influence was reduced by replacing them with the value that corresponds to three standard deviations (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007). Fewer than 5% missing values were observed (with the exception of “income” which was thus excluded from analyses). These missing values were distributed randomly across items and participants.

Discussion

The relationship between cultural identity and disordered eating was examined in a sample of Muslim-Australian women. In support of the proposition that western culture poses a potential risk to women’s body image, level of western mainstream identification was found to correlate positively with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating symptomatology. Subsequent path analyses revealed that the relationships between cultural identity and disordered eating were differentially mediated for

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a Grant from the Australian Research Council (DP0556370).

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Islam and Eating Disorders founded in 2012 – run by Maha Khan, the blog creates awareness of Eating Disorders in the Muslim world, offers information and support for sufferers and their loved ones.

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