Body Image and Religion: Explicit and Implicit Attitudes Among Three Denominations of Jewish Women

The protective power of certain religious aspects with regards to body image has been demonstrated in the literature. However, most studies only use self-report methods. Self-report measures are limited as they might reflect biased attitudes, especially for more traditional religious communities. The present study aimed to examine the potential bias in body image self-report measures among women from three Jewish religion denominations by comparing explicit and implicit measures in this context. Participants were 580 Israeli Jewish women from ultra-orthodox, modern-orthodox, and secular denominations who completed self-report measures of positive and negative body image attitudes as well as the thin-ideal Implicit Association Test. Findings demonstrated that while ultra-orthodox women report on more positive body image attitudes and less body image concerns, their implicit scores are similar to those of modern orthodox and secular women when taking their body mass index into account. In conclusion, there are group differences in explicit but not implicit measures.