Who is most likely to fat talk? A social comparison perspective

Negative talk about food, weight, or the body that occurs commonly among women – fat talk – is gaining increasing attention. Whereas its negative eating pathology and body esteem correlates have received continued empirical validation, what is not yet known is who is most likely to fat talk. We propose that social comparison processes underlie and motivate much of fat talk. In a sample of 143 college women, we found evidence for the role of social comparison. First, having a stronger tendency to socially compare directly predicts fat talk. Second, as a woman's body image concerns increase, her likelihood of engaging in fat talk increases, and this is intensified if she has a greater tendency to socially compare. Finally, social comparison propensity begins to exert its exacerbating effects at surprisingly low levels of body image concern. Results are discussed in terms of the advantages of using a social comparison perspective to better understand fat talk.

► Body image concern among women predicts greater engagement in fat talk. ► Stronger social comparison tendency intensifies fat talk as body image concerns increase. ► Surprisingly, social comparison tendency exerts effects even at low levels of body image concern.