Religion, body satisfaction and dieting

Western societal pressures of thinness have assigned worth to the ideal body, contributing to body dissatisfaction and increased dieting. A social factor that may serve as an alternative avenue of worth than the body is religion. Survey data from a community sample (n=546) was collected to examine religion's relationships with body satisfaction and dieting. Religion was significantly related to greater body satisfaction and less dieting, and specifically negative aspects of religion were related to lower body satisfaction and greater dieting. Those utilizing more negative religious coping had lower body satisfaction (women: r=-0.47; men: r=-0.58). Self-esteem was a mediator in these relationships. In women, those reporting higher negative congregational social support were more likely to diet than those reporting lower levels (CI: 2.0; 1.2, 3.5). Overall, religion was related to body satisfaction and dieting, with specifically negative aspects of religion having more consistent and stronger relationships than other components of religion.

Continuity in the lives of elder catholic women religious

Data from life review interviews with thirty-nine elder Catholic women religious (68-98) show these women's lives do not conform to a sequential pattern of late life developmental stages. Their lives can best be understood in terms of continuous themes throughout individual lives. The majority of the women reach ego integrity in young old age and continue to reestablish this by adhering to themes in their life stories. Themes serve as a framework of the self. The main themes of the participants are: faith, family, education, friends, community, caring for others, and prayer. Communal aspects of religious life support the women in their continuous development of identity. Generativity is evidenced in their lives as an ongoing component of self-identity. These data show the continuous process of establishing ego integrity throughout late life. The life review data can best be explained using the continuity theory of identity development.