The impact of sociocultural influences on the eating attitudes of Lebanese and Cypriot students

Abstract

The aim of this comparative cross-cultural study was to explore the relationship between eating behavior and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and body image in female university students from two distinct cultural contexts, Cyprus and Lebanon. The Dutch Eating Behavior questionnaire (DEBQ) and the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire were used to assess the different variables in 200 students from each culture. Results indicated that the Lebanese students engaged more in emotional and external eating and were impacted to a larger extent by sociocultural influences including media influences compared to the Cypriot students. In addition, a positive relationship was found between emotional and external eating in both cultures. Finally, significant correlations were found between sociocultural influences and eating scores only in the Cypriot sample. Culture specific factors such as the individualistic or collectivistic aspect of the culture, the societal values and norms specific to Lebanon and Cyprus as well as the westernization history of each are discussed as underpinnings for the dissimilarities found among the two samples. These findings are significant in understanding the high rise of eating pathology in these two cultures.