Dieting symptomatology in women and perceptions of social support: An evolutionary approach

This research examined the relationship between disordered eating attitudes in women and perceptions of parental readiness with perceptions of support from different sources. A total of 100 heterosexual women currently involved in a romantic relationship responded to three subscales of the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI; Body Dissatisfaction, Drive for Thinness, and Maturity Fears), questions measuring perceived parental readiness, and perceptions of social support from their partners, family, and friends. Women who perceived relatively low levels of support, particularly from romantic partners and family, reported increased dieting symptomatology and lower perceptions of parental readiness. For women, disordered eating attitudes may reflect an ancestral reproductive suppression mechanism that is activated by contemporary cues that indicated poor reproductive outcomes in ancestral environments. The potential implications of these results, as well as alternative interpretations of the findings, are discussed.