Passage 3
Among other factors, disordered eating has been linked with immigration,
acculturative stress and Western beauty standards of thinness. Acculturation as a
complex and interdisciplinary phenomenon has been defined in multiple ways, all
implying meeting of cultures and the subsequent changes in individuals or groups.
Psychological acculturation refers to the changes an individual experiences as
a result of culture change while adjusting to a new dominant culture…Migrationrelated psychological distress and mental health vulnerability of immigrants
and refugees have been recognized by an abundance of research prompting
researchers to propose that culture change and adopting to Western lifestyles
posed certain risks for psychological well-being among diverse populations.
This study aimed to examine the association between immigration, acculturation
strategies and eating patterns.
Acculturation was conceptualized and measured by acculturation strategies of
integration (maintaining original culture and adopting the new culture), assimilation
(adopting the new culture and leaving behind the old), separation (sticking with the
original culture only) and marginalization (maintaining/adopting neither culture).
Eating patterns were conceptualized by dietary restriction, eating concern, shape
concern, and weight concern…
Five hundred and six Georgian women took part in the study: 253 living abroad (UK
and USA) and 253 living in Georgia. Measures included East Asian Acculturation
Measure (EAAM) for acculturation strategies (assimilation, integration, separation,
and marginalization subscales) and Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire
(EDEQ) for eating patterns (dietary restriction, eating concern, weight concern,
shape concern subscales, and global score). Relevant demographic variables and
Body Mass Index (BMI) were recorded.
Correlational analyses showed that marginalization and separation appeared
to have strong statistically significant positive correlations with eating concern,
shape concern, weight concern, and global scores. Integration appeared to have
marginal negative correlations with eating concern and shape concern outcomes.
No correlations were identified between EDEQ restriction concern and any
acculturation strategy. The strategy of assimilation was not linked with any EDEQ
score either.
Comparisons of immigrant and nonimmigrant groups using Multivariate Analysis
of Covariance (MANCOVA) with BMI as a covariate found a difference in dietary
restriction only, with immigrants yielding higher mean score than non-immigrants.
The global EDEQ scores of immigrant and nonimmigrant groups were almost
identical though. Correlations between separation and marginalization and four
EDEQ scores were statistically significant and positive, while correlations between
integration and two EDEQ subscales were marginally significant and negative.
Regression analysis showed that separation and marginalization strategies of
acculturation were significantly linked with EDEQ eating concern, shape concern,
weight concern, and global scores thereby representing predictors of elevated
eating outcomes.
In summary, the findings on the links between immigration, acculturation strategies
and eating patterns of Georgian immigrants showed that…while living in a Western
country, acculturation strategies of separation and marginalization were associated
with higher eating concern, shape concern, weight concern and global scores of
EDEQ…
Culture Change and Eating Patterns: A Study of Georgian Women. Adapted from Ia
Shekriladze et al. (2019).
A researcher wishes to determine the usefulness of the social cognitive theory
in explaining the correlation between EDEQ scores and various acculturation
strategies. Which of the following would be most important to evaluate?
A) The specific cultural and cognitive values individuals hold based on their
preferred acculturation strategies
B) The monetary incentives driving the adoption of various acculturation
strategies
C) The parental and familial influences that affect which acculturation
strategies are chosen by particular individuals
D) The unconscious, deeply-hidden thought processes and reasonings that
drive decisions and behaviors
Correct answer is A
Social cognitive theory is a theory of explaining human behavior that takes into
account a multiplicity of factors, including but not limited to a person’s social
situation (e.g. environment, cultural, peer, familial, and other influences) as well as
a person’s internal cognitive influences (e.g. understanding of particular events
and situations, the values they hold and make decisions based on, their thought
processes and reasoning, etc.). Social cognitive theory explicitly states that social
and cognitive factors influence one another, and thus that both are important. Thus,
evaluating a person’s social and cognitive values and then attempting to correlate
them to a particular acculturation strategy would be a method in line with the social
cognitive theory. For this reason, Answer A is correct because the relevance of the
social cognitive theory in this investigation would be best evaluated by determining
which specific cultural and cognitive values individuals hold based on their
preferred acculturation strategies.
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