"In the eye of the beholder": Understanding the role of beauty in disordered eating

Abstract

Eating disorders are mental health illnesses with global implications; however, there is a dearth of research on their development and maintenance within Asian populations. This study extended findings from Obleada’s (2019) thesis by refining a recently developed Asian beauty measure (Aspects of Appearance; AAM), examining aspects of validity with samples of Asian Americans in the continental United States and individuals living in two Asian countries, and exploring its relationship with other common and unique risk factors for Asians. Participants were women recruited from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (n = 147), Boston University (n = 97), and South Korea (n = 196); a small sample recruited from the Philippines was insufficient for inclusion in analyses. Results indicated a two-factor model derived from reduction of items and multiple confirmatory factor analyses, which resulted in retaining 7 out of 15 items from the original Hair, Skin, and Face subscale and 6 out of 12 items from the original Body and Looks subscale. Measurement invariance supported the AAM’s use with both populations and implied the measure contained culture-specific items for Asians. The AAM was positively associated with internalized weight bias, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating sociocultural pressures, and depression. Notably, compared to European and Asian Americans, South Koreans had the highest scores on both subscales of the AAM, disordered eating, acceptance of cosmetic surgery, and on a measure assessing the price they’d be willing to pay to meet appearance ideals. Limitations of this study include small sample sizes of Philippine nationals and Asian Americans and multicollinearity of AAM subscales. Future studies should further examine whether common and unique risk factors may predict responses on the AAM and investigate cross-cultural aspects of the relationship between the AAM and risk factors, especially among South Koreans.