Things that are good and things that are chocolate: A cultural model of weight control as morality

Abstract

The ideology of weight control as evidenced in the discourse of American adolescent girls is explored via a cognitive approach to discourse analysis, and focuses on the teasing out of cultural models through evidence in natural language. It is hypothesized that a cultural model exists which equates weight control with a moral code reflective of the Protestant ethic. The research examines how the cultural model frames experience by supplying interpretations of that experience, and how it influences behavior by supplying goals for action. The cognitive salience of the model within the belief system of the individual regulates the degree of influence the model has on behavior. Four levels of influence are proposed, ranging from cultural cliche to motivation of disordered eating. The predominant influence is found to be as an occasional guide to weight controlling action or discourse about such action.