Relationships Among Thought Suppression, Intrusive Thoughts, and Psychological Symptoms

Although thought suppression is related to increases in psychological symptoms (Purdon, 1999), the mechanisms that may explain this relationship are not well understood. As a result, the current study examined the relationships among thought suppression, intrusive thoughts, and psychological symptoms assessed by the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in a diverse sample of undergraduate students. Results suggested that, for women, utilizing thought suppression and experiencing unwanted intrusive thoughts were related to symptoms on the PAT. Findings further suggested that intrusive thoughts mediated the relationship between thought suppression and various psychological symptoms that may be experienced by women. In contrast, for men, intrusive thoughts mediated the relationship between thought suppression and psychological symptoms consistent with anxiety-related disorders. Results suggested that learning to accept the experience of unwanted thoughts and refraining from using thought suppression may promote more beneficial outcomes for individuals experiencing a variety of psychological symptoms

Men’s oppressive beliefs predict their breast size preferences in women

Previous studies of men’s breast size preferences have yielded equivocal findings, with studies variously indicating a preference for small, medium, or large breasts. Here, we examined the impact of men’s oppressive beliefs in shaping their female breast size ideals. British White men from the community in London, England (N = 361) viewed figures of women that rotated in 360° and varied in breast size along five levels. They then rated the figure that they found most physically attractive and also completed measures assessing their sexist attitudes and tendency to objectify women. Results showed that medium breasts were rated most frequent as attractive (32.7 %), followed by large (24.4 %) and very large (19.1 %) breasts. Further analyses showed that men’s preferences for larger female breasts were significantly associated with a greater tendency to be benevolently sexist, to objectify women, and to be hostile towards women. These results were discussed in relation to feminist theories, which postulate that beauty ideals and practices in contemporary societies serve to maintain the domination of one sex over the other

Resource security impacts men’s female breast size preferences

It has been suggested human female breast size may act as signal of fat reserves, which in turn indicates access to resources. Based on this perspective, two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that men experiencing relative resource insecurity should perceive larger breast size as more physically attractive than men experiencing resource security. In Study 1, 266 men from three sites in Malaysia varying in relative socioeconomic status (high to low) rated a series of animated figures varying in breast size for physical attractiveness. Results showed that men from the low socioeconomic context rated larger breasts as more attractive than did men from the medium socioeconomic context, who in turn perceived larger breasts as attractive than men from a high socioeconomic context. Study 2 compared the breast size judgements of 66 hungry versus 58 satiated men within the same environmental context in Britain. Results showed that hungry men rated larger breasts as significantly more attractive than satiated men. Taken together, these studies provide evidence that resource security impacts upon men’s attractiveness ratings based on women’s breast size

Exploring women’s experiences: embodied pathways and influences for exercise participation

It has been well-documented that women face pressures to conform to a slim, toned, and athletic body, becoming “tyrannised” by beauty ideals. Under these contemporary ideologies of perfectionism, women are placed under constant surveillance, evaluation and, objectification and are thus reduced to “being” their bodies. However, there is little known about the potential relationships between different types of exercise, body image, and exercise motivation. With this in mind, this paper contributes towards a small but developing body of research that utilises feminist phenomenology to reveal twelve women’s early embodied motivations for exercising and draws upon material gathered from a three-year ethnography into the embodied experiences of women in fitness cultures. This paper delves into the influences on their continued participation over time and explores how these experiences shape their understandings of the embodied self and the broader constructions of the gendered body. The discussion provided illuminates how early influences on exercise participation and how pressures on women to conform to dominant notions of the “feminine” body are imposed by structural, cultural, historical, and localised forces in ways that affect and shape future physical activity participation, and the physical cultures where these tensions are played out

Weight stigma is stressful. A review of evidence for the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma model

Weight stigma is highly pervasive, but its consequences are understudied. This review draws from theory in social psychology, health psychology, and neuroendocrinology to construct an original, generative model called the cyclic obesity/weight-based stigma (COBWEBS) model. This model characterizes weight stigma as a "vicious cycle" - a positive feedback loop wherein weight stigma begets weight gain. This happens through increased eating behavior and increased cortisol secretion governed by behavioral, emotional, and physiological mechanisms, which are theorized to ultimately result in weight gain and difficulty of weight loss. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the existing literature for evidence supporting such a model, propose ways in which individuals enter, fight against, and exit the cycle, and conclude by outlining fruitful future directions in this nascent yet important area of research

Breast And Chest Size: Ideals And Stereotypes Through The 1990S

This study investigated differences in ideals and stereotypes associated with breast and chest size through the 1990s. Five cohorts of primarily Caucasian participants between 1990 and 1998 completed the Breast/Chest Rating Scale that consists of figures of men and women of varying upper torso sizes and a series of questions related to ideal size, perceptions of others\u27 ideals, and characteristics associated with different sizes. Although the breast size women perceive as preferred by others has increased, the ideal breast size has remained stable for men and women. Men\u27s ideal breast size was consistently larger than the breast size women prefer, and men also preferred a significantly larger chest size. Despite an increasing cultural emphasis on large chest size, there was a significant decrease in the chest size preferred by women across cohort groups. The chest size men think women prefer, however, has increased. Although there was little evidence of changes in stereotypes associated with chest size, the breast size associated with a variety of positive characteristics was significantly larger in 1998 than in 1992. These results are discussed in relation to body image and social implications

Biggest Isn\u27T Always Best: The Effect Of Breast Size On Perceptions Of Women

Research has demonstrated preferences for medium and large breasts and a tendency to associate positive attributes with larger breasts. Findings have been limited, however, by use of stimuli that do not depict women realistically or in a credible context. In the current study, a female actor\u27s breast size was manipulated to create four videotapes (bra cup sizes A, B, C, and D) in which she delivered a speech. Participants viewed one of the four video-tapes and rated the actor on social and professional characteristics. Males perceived the actor more favorably on both professional and social characteristics when she had a medium breast size, whereas females were generally not influenced by breast size. Findings are related to the popularity of methods to enhance breast size and the need for awareness of the potential impact of breast size on how women are perceived