The Influence of Body-Related Envy on Psychophysiological Response of Stress in Young Women
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The Influence of Body-Related Envy on Psychophysiological Response of Stress In Young Women by Eva Pila BSc. Kinesiology, McMaster University (2011) A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in Graduate Department of Exercise Sciences UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ©Eva Pila, 2013 112 THE INFLUENCE OF BODY-RELATED ENVY ON PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE OF STRESS IN YOUNG WOMEN Master of Science 2013 Eva Pila Department of Exercise Science University of Toronto Abstract Body-related envy is an understudied emotion that may be linked with adverse psychophysiological outcomes such as stress (Smith & Kim, 2007). The purpose of this study was to explore body-related envy and psychophysiological response of stress among young adult females. Participants (N = 47; Mage = 21.6 ± 1.8 yrs) completed a weeklong assessment of phenomenological body-related envy, trait body image constructs and an acute laboratory stress- induction task. Findings support the hypothesis that negative body image constructs predict experiences of body-related envy (R2 = 0.17 - 0.54), and that envy can be reliability assessed using phenomenological ratings. Body-related envy was a significant predictor of psychological appraisals of stress (R2 = 0.24 - 0.31), but the proposed associations with physiological stress were not supported. Considering the adverse health outcomes associated with envy (Smith, et al., 1999) and stress (Anderson, 1998), this study has important implications for women’s psychological and physical health. ii Acknowledgements I wish to thank, first and foremost, my Master’s supervisor, Dr. Catherine Sabiston. Thank you for providing me with countless learning opportunities and continued support to pursue my passions. Your mentorship, encouragement and dedication have been extremely inspiring for me both as a student and budding researcher. Thank you for challenging me both academically and personally, and always modeling the importance of dedication, enthusiasm and hard work. I am eternally grateful for your support, advice and unique ability to make the seemingly biggest challenges into manageable and rewarding learning experiences. I feel honored to have you as a mentor, and I eagerly await the learning opportunities ahead. To my committee members, Dr. Gretchen Kerr and Dr. Michael Atkinson, thank you for your great insight, keenness and support. I have greatly benefited from your invaluable knowledge and suggestions, which have challenged me to embrace a more enriching perspective of my work. I would like to acknowledge my study participants and research confederates, for making this work possible. Your contribution and commitment are greatly appreciated. A special thank you to my past labmates at the Health Behaviour and Emotion lab and Sylvie Moissan, for the advice, friendship and for creating such a welcoming learning environment. Thank you to the fellow graduate students at McGill and UofT, who made this experience so much more enjoyable and fun. And to my current labmates, Gina and Tanya, thank you for being such supportive colleagues and dear friends. I cannot begin to imagine this fabulous adventure without you there every step of the way. iii Thank you to my wonderful, devoted and always supportive friends (AW, BM, EB, DP, NH, SA, SD, SW). Your encouragement has been indispensible and I am so grateful for your friendship over the years. And of course, to Matt Riddell: thank you for being my best friend, and an unwavering anchor for all these years. Thank you for grounding me, believing in me and always making me laugh. Your tremendous understanding, patience and positive outlook always serves as a necessary reminder of what is most important. And finally, the biggest thank you to my amazing parents, grandparents and family. You have consistently encouraged me to grow, challenge myself and always take pride in my accomplishments. Mom and Dad, thank you for teaching me the importance of hard work, perseverance and life balance. For all of your sacrifices, I owe you my deepest gratitude. Thank you to the kindest grandparents and aunt, for your unconditional love and support to follow my dreams. The love and encouragement of our wonderful family is the foundation upon which I have built myself and for your endless support, I am forever grateful. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... .ii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................v List of tables ............................................................................................................................... .viii List of figures ................................................................................................................................ .ix Preface..............................................................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1: Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 1.1. Purpose and Research Questions ..............................................................................................8 1.2. Literature Review......................................................................................................................9 1.2.1. Body Image ................................................................................................................9 1.2.2. Body-related self-conscious emotions .....................................................................12 1.2.3. Envy .........................................................................................................................15 1.2.3.1. Definition of envy ..............................................................................................16 1.2.3.2. Benign vs. malicious envy .................................................................................17 1.2.3.3. Envy vs. jealousy ...............................................................................................18 1.2.3.4. Envy and other self-conscious emotions............................................................19 1.2.3.5. Envy in society ...................................................................................................20 1.2.3.6. Measures of envy ...............................................................................................22 1.2.3.7. Predictors of envy ..............................................................................................23 1.2.3.8. Health outcomes of envy ...................................................................................28 1.3. Response of Stress ..................................................................................................................30 1.3.1. Role of stress response in body-related affect .........................................................31 1.4. Summary & Hypotheses .........................................................................................................33 CHAPTER 2: Methodology ...........................................................................................................36 2.1. Sample.....................................................................................................................................36 2.1.1. Description of participants .......................................................................................36 2.1.2. Recruitment ..............................................................................................................36 2.2. Measures .................................................................................................................................37 2.2.1. Daily measures .........................................................................................................37 2.2.2. Laboratory measures ................................................................................................37 v 2.3. Design .....................................................................................................................................41 2.4. Data Analysis ..........................................................................................................................45 2.4.1. Procedures ................................................................................................................45 2.4.2. Hypothesis 1 – The utility of phenomenological ratings .........................................46 2.4.3. Hypothesis 2 – The relationship of correlates to body-related envy .......................46 2.4.4. Hypothesis 3 – Body-related envy and psychological appraisal of stress ...............47 2.4.5. Hypothesis 4 – Body-related envy and physiological response to stress.................48 CHAPTER 3: Results ....................................................................................................................50 3.1. Preliminary Results .................................................................................................................50 3.2. Main Results ...........................................................................................................................52