학술논문
A cultural models approach to understanding body fatness perceptions and disordered eating in young South Korean men.
Document Type
Academic Journal
Author
Monocello LT; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.; Lavender JM; Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.; Military Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (MiCOR) Program, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.; The Metis Foundation, San Antonio, Texas, USA.; Fowler LA; Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.; Fitzsimmons-Craft EE; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.; Wilfley DE; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Source
Publisher: Wiley Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8111226 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1098-108X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 02763478 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Int J Eat Disord Subsets: MEDLINE
Subject
Language
English
Abstract
Objective: The eating disorders field has been limited by a predominant focus on White, Western women, and there is growing recognition of the need to understand cross-cultural variation in key constructs (i.e., ideal body types). A transdisciplinary, cultural models approach systematizes the incorporation of an "emic" perspective (a culture's own understandings of phenomena) into assessments of relationships between body shapes and eating disorders.
Method: Eighty-one young South Korean men aged 19-34 years living in Seoul participated in this research. A cultural model of body fatness was identified using cultural consensus analysis during 18 months of ethnographic, mixed-methods fieldwork. Participants also completed questionnaires assessing age, height, weight, sexual identity, university prestige, body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and cultural consonance with the Korean cultural model of the ideal male body. Variation in these factors was analyzed using a series of chi-squares and analyses of variance with the culturally defined categories of body fatness as the independent variables.
Results: Cultural consensus analysis found that young South Korean men are consistent in identifying categories of "too thin," "balanced," and "too fat." The "balanced" category contained the lowest proportion of high-prestige university attendees and the highest average cultural consonance. The "too fat" category was characterized by the highest levels of body dissatisfaction and dieting, as well as proportion of probable eating disorders.
Discussion: A cultural models approach identified culturally important factors and patterns in disordered eating among young South Korean men and may be effective for understanding eating disorders in other populations not typically studied.
Public Significance: This study applies a systematic, "emic" perspective to young South Korean men's body ideals. Young Korean men share a cultural model of body fatness, and this model frames how they experience risk for eating disorders. This study demonstrates a method for incorporating culture into research on eating disorder risk.
(© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)
Method: Eighty-one young South Korean men aged 19-34 years living in Seoul participated in this research. A cultural model of body fatness was identified using cultural consensus analysis during 18 months of ethnographic, mixed-methods fieldwork. Participants also completed questionnaires assessing age, height, weight, sexual identity, university prestige, body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and cultural consonance with the Korean cultural model of the ideal male body. Variation in these factors was analyzed using a series of chi-squares and analyses of variance with the culturally defined categories of body fatness as the independent variables.
Results: Cultural consensus analysis found that young South Korean men are consistent in identifying categories of "too thin," "balanced," and "too fat." The "balanced" category contained the lowest proportion of high-prestige university attendees and the highest average cultural consonance. The "too fat" category was characterized by the highest levels of body dissatisfaction and dieting, as well as proportion of probable eating disorders.
Discussion: A cultural models approach identified culturally important factors and patterns in disordered eating among young South Korean men and may be effective for understanding eating disorders in other populations not typically studied.
Public Significance: This study applies a systematic, "emic" perspective to young South Korean men's body ideals. Young Korean men share a cultural model of body fatness, and this model frames how they experience risk for eating disorders. This study demonstrates a method for incorporating culture into research on eating disorder risk.
(© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)