Differential effects of women's magazine and textbook presentations of bulimia nervosa on attitudes toward bulimia nervosa and individuals with bulimia nervosa

This study attempted to assess the impact of popular women's magazine and textbook presentations of bulimia nervosa on women's attitudes towards individuals with bulimia nervosa and towards bulimia nervosa. One hundred women read articles from popular women's magazines, one hundred read textbook chapters, and one hundred read articles unrelated to bulimia nervosa. The attitude toward individuals with bulimia nervosa was significantly lower for the textbook group than for the other two groups, but no significant differences were found between the magazine and control groups. It was suggested that the magazine and control groups did not differ significantly because the subjects had previously read an average of eight articles on bulimia nervosa, most likely from mass media sources, and thus the magazine articles simply confirmed their prior attitudes. Suggestions for changing the stereotypical portrayal in the media of women with bulimia nervosa were made.