The relationship between body dissatisfaction and the development of disordered eating has been widely studied in psychology (e.g., Steiner-Adair, 1986; Streigel-Moore, Silberstein, & Rodin, 1986). This research has documented the apparent link between sociocultural pressures (from media and interpersonal relationships) and eating pathology. Stice (1994) developed the Sociocultural Model of Bulimia (SMB), positing that this relationship would be mediated by internalization of the thin ideal body presented in U.S. culture, and body dissatisfaction. Stice and other researchers hypothesized that some factors may interrupt this link at different points within the SMB. However, this literature has, to a large extent, neglected to examine potential resistance factors that women can actively learn and use to resist internalization and/or body dissatisfaction (Twamley & Davis, 1999). The studies that did address the role of active resistance factors within the SMB had two major problems: defining and measuring these resistance factors.
The present study used the SMB as a foundation to investigate three potential resistance factors that may moderate relationships within the SMB: self-determined non-conformity, rejection of traditional feminine gender roles, and endorsement of feminist ideals. This study was designed to improve upon the work of previous studies by using more appropriate measures of these factors and clarifying their potential moderating roles within the SMB. Two hundred fifty-seven women from a wide range of ages and backgrounds provided questionnaire data and demographic information. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to establish whether or not these three factors moderated the relationship between sociocultural pressures and internalization and/or the relationship between internalization and body dissatisfaction within the SMB, and to test gender roles as a mediator of the relationship between sociocultural pressures and internalization. Results indicated that self-determined non-conformity, rejection of tradition feminine gender roles, and endorsement of feminist ideals do not act as moderators in the relationship between sociocultural pressures and internalization, or in the relationship between internalization and body dissatisfaction. Gender roles were found to partially mediate the relationship between sociocultural pressures and internalization. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.