The present study examined disordered eating, sorority social norms regarding the
body and thinness, personal values regarding the body and thinness, body dissatisfaction,
thin ideal internalization, fat talk, negative affect, and positive affect among sorority and
non-sorority women. The aims of this study were to discern the underlying factor
structures of the sorority/group social norms questionnaires and the personal values
regarding the body and thinness questionnaire, investigate disordered eating among
sorority and non-sorority women over time, and further examine the impact of social
norms on sorority women's body and eating attitudes and behaviors. The results of this
research illustrated three main findings. First, sorority women did not differ from nonsorority
women on eating pathology. Second, fat talk, personal values regarding the body
and thinness, and body mass index predicted increased disordered eating over time in the
general college population of women. Third, the sorority and group social norms scale, as
well as the personal values regarding the body and thinness measure, were all developed
and showed evidence for validation in this research. Additionally, the sorority/group
social norms questionnaires and the personal values regarding the body and thinness
questionnaire demonstrated evidence for validation.
