Nineteen female anorexic patients (10 anorexic-abstainers and 9 anorexics with episodes of bulimia) and 19 matched normal weight females participated in a study designed to investigate underlying dimensions of body image perception and body image preferences. The test materials consisted of a series of silhouettes which varied systematically in the sizes of four body parts: breasts, abdomen, buttocks, and legs. First, the subjects sorted the silhouettes into categories, Subjects then ordered the silhouettes along a 100-unit scale reflecting their preference for each silhouette. Finally, the subjects selected the silhouette which resembled themselves most and completed a semantic differential for this and the most and least preferred silhouettes. Multidimensional scaling analyses (INDSCAL & PREFMAP) were performed. Five underlying dimensions of perception were interpreted: four of those dealt with size of buttocks and abdomen and one with breast size. The dimensions were similar for both groups. Contrary to expectation, no group differences were found regarding body image preferences. Subjects within each group were heterogeneous. Preference ratings of own body silhouette were significantly lower for anorexic abstainers than for bulimic anorexics (p < .05) and normal controls (p < .01). The semantic differential scales yielded no group differences. It was concluded that variables other than a distorted body image and a thin), body image ideal are important to the etiology of anorexia nervosa; future research should investigate alternative etiological concepts such as weight phobia and fear of losing control. The distinction between anorexic abstainers and bulimic anorexics appears to be useful and the characteristics of these subgroups need to be investigated further.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat
