Not just a pretty face: physical attractiveness and perfectionism in the risk for eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE

Considerable research has examined the correlates and consequences of both objective and subjective ratings of physical attractiveness. Numerous studies have found, for example, that subjective physical attractiveness is inversely related to weight and diet concerns. Surprisingly, however, no research has examined the relationship between objective physical beauty and eating pathologies, despite clinical and theoretical reasons to expect a positive relationship between the two.

METHOD

We rated 203 young women on facial attractiveness and obtained self-report measures of perfectionism, neuroticism, and weight preoccupation.

RESULTS

Attractiveness was positively related to weight preoccupation after controlling for body size and neurotic perfectionism.

DISCUSSION

These findings provide the first evidence of physical beauty as a risk for disordered eating, and confirm earlier evidence that the relationship between general perfectionism and disordered eating only occurs when combined with a tendency to be anxious and hypercritical. Results are discussed in the context of identity formation and the attractiveness stereotype.