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Study 1 was designed to replicate and extend findings which suggest that elevated ED symptomatology is associated with lower explicit, but not implicit self-esteem (Cockerham et al., 2009; Vanderlinden et al., 2009; Hoffmeister et al., 2010). Only one of these studies (Hoffmeister et al., 2010) had been carried out in a non-clinical population, and included restrained eaters only – by contrast, the present study assessed participants with overall elevated pathology, including concerns with restraint, eating, weight and shape. The analyses carried out in previous studies were limited to the assessment of group differences rather than the interaction of implicit and explicit self-esteem, or self-esteem discrepancy as a predictor of ED pathology. The present study was designed to replicate previous findings as well as address both of the latter questions.

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Overall, the results support the presence of a self-esteem discrepancy (low explicit, high implicit) in individuals with elevated ED pathology, but suggest that the discrepancy did not predict ED pathology better than explicit self-esteem alone. The study did not wholly replicate the findings from the only other non-clinical study in this area, by Hoffmeister et al. (2010), who found differences in explicit, but not implicit self-esteem between participants high or low in dietary restraint. By contrast, in the present study, participants with elevated ED pathology reported lower RSES and IAT-D scores than those with lower pathology levels; this suggests that both explicit and implicit self-esteem were associated with higher ED concerns. However, a follow-up repeated-measures ANOVA did indeed find a significant interaction between the self- esteem measures (RSES and IAT-D) and ED pathology levels, which lends further support to the role of discrepant self-esteem in ED pathology. Hypothesis 1 was therefore confirmed.

Hypothesis 2, pertaining to predicting ED pathology from both implicit and explicit self- esteem was not confirmed. Several multiple regressions were carried out, using both implicit and explicit self-esteem measures, and a value calculated to reflect their relative discrepancy. However, in all cases, the inclusion of implicit self-esteem did not explain pathology to a greater degree than the explicit self-esteem alone. The null findings may be attributed to the approach used in calculating SED, as there is currently no accepted way of calculating self-esteem

discrepancy. However, the approach taken here was deemed to be sensible and consistent with the conceptual context of the research questions.

Finally, Hypothesis 3 could not be fully addressed, as it was predicated on the

assumption that ED pathology would be correlated with perfectionism, which was not the case. While such a finding is unusual, it is not unique; for instance, Wood, Waller, Miller and Slade (1992) found no correlation between perfectionism and elevated ED pathology. In contrast to findings by Schröder-Abé et al. (2007) and Zeigler-Hill and Terry (2007), who argue that discrepant self-esteem is associated with several maladaptive psychological traits, including perfectionism and aggression, self-esteem discrepancy in the current sample was associated with lower perfectionism. Following a discussion of methodological limitations, these findings

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will now be discussed in the context of previous research and the function of implicit self- esteem in the context of broader self-esteem theories. Further research directions will also be proposed.

7.2. LIMITATIONS

Data for the current study was collected using an opportunistic sample consisting mostly of undergraduate students: young, slim, educated women. For this reason, the generalisability of the findings is somewhat limited. However, it is worth noting that young, slim women are also at greater risk for developing disordered eating behaviours compared to other

demographic groups (Hudson, Hiripi, Pope Jr, & Kessler, 2007), and therefore more relevant to the current research area.

Second, only one implicit measure of self-esteem was used, the IAT. The reasons for selecting the IAT in favour of other available measures was explained in the methodology section. However, the choice to use only one measure was mostly a choice made out of practical research constraints. Future studies should ideally include a variety of implicit measures in order to assess both relative and non-relative self-associations.

The stimuli used in the IAT can also be criticised in light of Karpiski’s (2004) research with regards to the role of the “Other” category and its potential skewing effect on the measure’s outcome. The IAT used for the assessment of implicit self-esteem in the present study were designed with the criticism in mind, and using the recommendation that a “neutral” reference category is used. However, it is still debatable which “Other” group is most relevant in implicit self-esteem research, particularly within the context of ED pathology. Different results with regards to the self-esteem discrepancy could be anticipated using an IAT which contrasts attitude towards the self compared to, for example, one’s social group (peers, friends, and/or family), or “idealised” images of beauty in the media. Research suggests that both same-sex peers and media representations are used in social comparison, which is also correlated with body dissatisfaction (Jones, 2001). Further research using different “Other” categories (e.g.,

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using peers or subjective shape/weight “ideals”) could contribute to a better understanding of the role of implicit self-esteem in ED pathology. However, studies which use these types of “non-neutral” categories should also take into account the potential mediating effect of Shape and Weight Based Self-Esteem (SAWBS) and include it in the assessment.

As outlined previously, it was not possible to assess the role of perfectionism in the association between discrepant self-esteem and ED pathology because no correlation was found between the MPS and the EDE-Q. While this was unexpected, it could suggest that the MPS is not the most suitable measure of perfectionism to use for this type of research. The MPS assesses other-directed perfectionism as well as the inwardly-directed type, which is not necessarily implicated in disordered eating behaviours (Franco-Paredes, Mancilla-Díaz, Vázquez-Arévalo, López-Aguilar, & lvarez-Rayón G., 2005). Alternative measures such as the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990) should be considered for future studies.

Finally, the SED calculation used was developed specifically for the purpose of this study and has not yet been applied broadly. Further research is needed to evaluate other alternatives to representing self-esteem discrepancy quantitatively, while taking into account measurement error, individual variability and generalizability to different explicit and implicit self-esteem measures.

7.3. THEORETICAL ACCOUNTS OF SELF-ESTEEM DISCREPANCY