Browsing by Author "Zeitounalian, Gary Leon"

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    Relationship of Disordered Eating Habits and Low Body Esteem among Individuals of Different Sexual Orientations in Lebanon
    (2011) Zeitounalian, Gary Leon
    The topic of this thesis centered on identifying whether there is the presence of disturbed eating habits and patterns, and low body-esteem between homosexual and heterosexual participants. The study's results were based on the analysis of the scores on the participants' completion of two reliable scales, the Eating Attitude Test (EAT) and the Body-Esteem Scale (BES). The hypotheses of this research are that homosexual males are more likely to display disturbed eating habits and patterns, along with having lower body-esteem than their heterosexual counterparts; whereas, lesbians are less likely to have disordered eating and are more satisfied with their bodies than heterosexual females. In addition, there would be a significant effect of sexual orientation and sex on scores of EAT and BES. The results indicated that homosexual males scored higher on the EAT and lower on the BES when compared to heterosexual males, and lesbians were less likely to display symptoms of disturbed eating patterns and had higher satisfaction with their bodies in comparison to heterosexual females; moreover, there was no significant effect of sexual orientation and sex on the BES and EAT. Although sexual orientation and sex did not significantly relate on scores of EAT and BES, the increased means on the scores of the BES and EAT revealed that the homosexual group is at most risk for developing symptoms and behaviors of disturbed eating.