Conflicting Gender Role Prescriptions and Disordered Eating in Single-sex and Coeducational School Environments

The purpose of the article is to illuminate the significance of data collected by Dyer and Tiggemann (1996) in Australia studying the effect of single-sex versus coeducational school environments on body concerns in adolescent women. First, research on why parents and their children choose to be educated in single-sex versus coeducational environments is detailed. Research revealing that adolescents from single-sex schools are often overexposed to confusing gender role attitudes is then reviewed. Finally, a connection is made between disordered eating and a sense of gender ambivalence resulting from increased exposure to conflicting gender role prescriptions. Based on the argument developed, it is predicted that girls attending single-sex schools will exhibit greater body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology than their coeducational counterparts. This hypothesis is tested and supported in a reanalysis of the data already mentioned. The counter-intuitive nature of these findings and future implications of the research are discussed.