No thesis selected. Broadly defined, my research interests lie in the cognitive processes of body perception and preference and the role of cultural factors in these processes, specifically acculturation, SES, race, and the moralizing mechanism of disgust. These cognitive processes of body perception and preference, that presumably lie upstream from body dissatisfaction, necessitate exploration due to their significant impact on women's health (i.e., eating, mood, and anxiety disorders). I intend to explore the cognitive processes of body perception and preference across racial groups, which have been shown to differ, assessing body perception as the shape and size one perceives her body to be, and body preference as the shape and size one perceives to be ideal. My goal is to investigate how acculturation and socioeconomic status (SES) moderate this relationship and how disgust simultaneously, operates as a learned, moralizing and governing mechanism in our culture. It is critical to understand these processes and the contributing cultural factors in order to understand what mechanisms serve as protective factors in different communities and how these can be implemented in others, thereby reducing the impact of these processes on women's health.
