Gender role and risk patterns for eating disorders in men and women.

The relationship between gender role and at-risk patterns for eating dysfunction was examined in this study of 206 men and women. The Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974) and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI; Garner, Olmsted, & Polivy, 1983) were the measures used. In accordance with the psychocultural model, it was expected that gender role and gender would interact across the risk factors. An interaction between gender and gender role was found across factors associated with eating disorders: different gender role identities contributed differentially to specific risk factors. The data contribute to a growing body of literature that suggests that the relationship between gender role and eating dysfunction is complex and requires multidimensional conceptualizations.