Learning Key Question

Question 1

Identify the key question for learning.

Answer 1

Is the influence of role models and celebrities something that causes anorexia?

Question 2

Describe the key question: include

• what anorexia is
• what are the symptoms of anorexia
• what are the long term effects
• what are the death rates/ any other stats

Answer 2

• Anorexia is an eating disorder where you feel a Ned to keep your weight as low as possible due to having a fear of gaining weight.
• symptoms can be Physical (missing meals, severe weight loss, fatigue, hair loss,), Cognitive (never satisfied, perfectionist), Behavioural (quieter, irritated easier), or Emotional (low self esteem, depression)

-long term effects can be psychological e.g anxiety or depression, or
physical such as heart slowness, loss of bone calcium, nerve damage

-without treatment, 20% of anorexics die, but with treatment mortality rate falls to 2-3%. 90-95% of suffers are female, 95% of disorders begin aged 12-29 years old.

Question 3

If we found that anorexia was due to celebrities and roel models, what implications would that have for society?

Answer 3

• there would be stricter guidelines on what is acceptable to post online.
• photos that have been edited may require warnings/ detail on what has been edited
• celebrities who have undergone plastic surgery would need to make this clear when posting photos
• may also be much stricter age restrictions which requires proof of age before joining a social media platform

Question 4

Using the social learning theory, explain how role models could cause anorexia. (Role models, ARRM, vicarious reinforcement)

Answer 4

-role models could be anyone including celebrities, influencers, you tubers, fashion models, cartoon characters (e.g Disney princesses)

• Attention: people pay attention to the appearance, life style, diet and exercise routines of these type of people through social media
• Retention: people remember body image, or how to achieve this look, or comments about certain foods/ diets, which gets replayed in their heads
• Reproduction: people have the self efficacy needed to replicate the behaviour, therefore begin eating less, exercising more
• Motivation: internal motivators= excitement and achievement of what they’ve accomplished. External motivators= compliments, more likes or followers

-vicarious reinforcement is where you observe a person carrying out a behaviour be rewarded for it, making you want to do the same. This could cause anorexia as if you copy a behaviour such as dieting in the hope you’ll look better and gain positive attention, but it isn’t suitable or attainable for your body therefore you end up causing damage to your own body

Question 5

Using operant conditioning, explain how this could cause, maintain or strengthen anorexia.

Answer 5

• Positive reinforcers= receiving compliments on loss of weight. More comments and encouragement makes you want to maintain skinny physique
• Negative reinforcers= avoiding food means less anxiety for the individual. Losing weight to remove bullying. Don’t want to return to anxiety provoking situations so keep on top of loosing weight

Question 6

What is a point to support that celebrities and role models are the cause of anorexia? Evaluate it

Answer 6

P-there is a fear of feeling too big/too fat
E-in 1999 there was a sudden increase in eating disorders among teenage girls in Fiji after the arrival of televisions in 1995. 74% of Fijian girls reported feeling too fat compared to with who they were seeing on the TV
E-agrees with key question therefore as shows the clear impact that anyone in the public eye has on young impressionable people making them feel insecure and insatiable about themselves

Question 7

Give a second point which agrees that role models and celebrities are the cause of anorexia. Evaluate it

Answer 7

P-social media and celebrity role models from more western societies are to blame for an increase in anorexia due to the beauty standard
E-Dr Hans spent 3 years in the Caribbean Island, Caracco, looking for causes of eating disorders. In this area, he found being larger was the beauty standard, which therefore explained why he only found 8/144,000 medical records being anorexia.
E-Clearly shows the power of beauty standards and how influential and responsible they are for causing anorexia. In western societies people are desperately trying to lose weight to fit in, whereas in the east, this isn’t a problem as this isn’t a desired appearance.

Question 8

Give a point that disagrees with the key question and suggests an alternative theory for the cause of anorexia. Evaluate it

Answer 8

P-the biological approach shows the effect of genetics. With identical twins, if one has anorexia, there should be a 100% concordance rate of the other twin also developing it, because they share 100% of their DNA.
E-in 1984 Holland et al studied one anorexic twin and the other non anorexic twin over a period of time to see the chances of the other twin developing it. By using interviews, they found that identical twins actually had a concordance rate of 56%
E-this demonstrates how there are other factors that are responsible for the development of anorexia such as genetics, but it can not be put down to genetics alone