| The purpose of the present investigation was to examine peer influences on early adolescent girls' eating behavior and attitudes. Grounded theory, a qualitative research methodology, was utilized to obtain the adolescent's perspective on eating behavior and attitudes and to discover the processes through which peers influence these actions and thoughts. For five months, approximately three or four times a week, 40 eighth grade girls were observed interacting in their middle school's cafeteria. In combination with naturalistic observation, 22 girls were interviewed about food, diet, body, and the role of peers with respect to these topics.; Although the majority of girls expressed some body dissatisfaction, they also stated that, generally speaking, they accepted their bodies the way they are. Additionally, few girls endorsed dieting, while many had a negative perception of it. Instead of dieting, all the girls interviewed acknowledged participating in monitoring their eating, and the majority attributed this behavior to a desire to be healthy. At the same time, it was evident that weight concerns were often euphemistically framed as health concerns, and therefore that food monitoring was commonly more motivated by a desire to maintain or lose weight than by a genuine interest in health. Girls also used their eating behavior as a means of impression management. Many modified their eating behavior to fit certain norms, and as a result, minimize the possibility of being judged.; Girls learned norms from peers who communicated them in various ways (e.g., teasing, joking around, and making disapproving comments). Interestingly, girls negatively judged both those who ate a lot and those who restricted their eating beyond what was considered “normative.” This finding suggests that peers, at times, might serve as a positive influence on girls' eating behavior.; The results of this research challenge the more narrow and pathological view of adolescent girls' eating behavior and attitudes that has emerged in previous quantitative studies. In addition, this study's findings begin to call into question the belief, perpetuated by media and research, that adolescents are inherently troubled, “normatively disturbed,” and a bad influence on each other. |
