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Download or read book A Study of the Relationship of Acculturation and Body Image of Mexican American Women Attending College written by Rebekah Ruth Pender and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considering all the areas of Hispanic acculturation impacts (e.g. beliefs, values, academic performance, socialization, etc.), a natural extension of that influence would be to body image. With that in mind, this study explored the relationship between the body image and level of acculturation of Mexican American females attending a private university in South Texas. The current research utilized over 100 (N=116) Mexican American women attending college, ages 18-52, in a correlational study. Measures administered in this study were the Figure Rating Scale (FRS) that assessment the perceived current and ideal figure rating of the participant toward her own body, the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BAS) that assessed participant level of acculturation, and a brief demographic survey developed by the researcher to categorize participants based on their Body Mass Index (BMI). This study assessed four null hypotheses regarding the body image, acculturation and Body Mass Index (BMI) of the participant volunteers. Of the four hypotheses, the researcher failed to reject null hypothesis 1 and alternative hypotheses 2, 3, and 4. The results of the study yielded no significant Pearson's r correlation between the Figure Rating Scale (FRS) and the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BAS) as was postulated alternative hypothesis 1. Alternative hypothesis 2 failed to be rejected in that of the population surveyed, 70.69% had a body image discrepancy variable of one or greater and reported a smaller number to represent their ideal figure. Alternative hypothesis 3 also failed to be rejected in that among the total participants, over 98% had averaged score of 2.5 or greater on the BAS. The researcher also failed to reject alternative hypothesis 4 in that the FRS positively correlated with the BMI of the participants surveyed, r=.562, p=.000. These results suggest that further investigation into the body image concerns and acculturation of Mexican American women would be a worthwhile endeavor.