non-biological explanation of AN

• non-biological explanations for anorexia are: SLT and operant conditioning
• anorexia was first diagnosed in the west (america and europe) and was rare in eastern cultures - diagnosis has increased worldwide since 70s due to western media spreading worldwide (lancu - 1994)
• SLT

  attention: teen girl pays attention to slim influencer on TV who has desirable traits like being thin

  retention: teen girl recall behaviour of celeb eating less food or restricting food groups like chocolate as it leads to weight gain

  reproduction: child becomes aware of body image around adolescence, they will imitate abnormal eating behaviour

  motivation: celeb gets praise for being thin such as comments and likes on social media so motivated to do the same via VR
• operant conditioning

  PR - getting compliments for being thin

  PP - getting bullied for being a bigger weight

  NR - losing weight and feeling less disgusted with yourself

  NP - losing weight
• strength

  • becker study of fijian girls suggest AN is influenced by social factors such as replicating behaviours of role models
  • after introduction of western TV, teens reported much higher rates of dieting and body image concerns
  • social influences on EDs are important, therefore careful consideration of media images that young people are exposed to is needed
• strength

  • jones and crawford (2006) assess the role of teasing and development of beauty standards
  • found that overweight girls and underweight boys were more likely to be teased by their peers. through teasing, peers reinforce gender based ideals on need for women to be thin
  • therefore, AN may be a learned disorder through positive punishment by peers
• weakness

  • cases of AN in blind people who cannot observe others
  • thomas (2013) studied 'ms a' who has 3% full vision. this disputes arguments that SLT can explain AN as there are cases where without observation of models, people have AN
  • observing models may not be the reason behind development of AN
• weakness

  • illness is rare in society, other factors must combine with socio-cultural factors
  • many people are exposed to models and culture of thinness as small proportions of the population develop ED's - while socio-cultural factors are involved, there may be alternative biological explanations that predispose people more likely develop AN e.g: genetics
  • it is possible some individuals are biologically predisposed to AN but social conditions influence development of the disorder