Imagine that your team is developing a program aimed at preventing eating disorders on a college campus. Describe the content you would include in the program, as well as content you would avoid. Make explicit reference to cognitive dissonance in your response. Finally, describe how you might distribute the program’s content among online and in-person modes of delivery.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Content should focus on healthy eating, healthy exercise, positive self-image, and critiquing media images. Content focusing on eating disorders themselves and on unhealthy dieting strategies might be avoided. Including such content may inadvertently teach participants unhealthy ways to lose weight and may lead to an increase in symptoms of disordered eating.
Critiquing media images encourages participants to voice attitudes that are contrary to one they might have internalized. This creates cognitive dissonance, an established means of attitude change. Much of the content is effective online. Critiquing media images is most effective in groups, although the online presentation of this material is more effective than not including it at all. Perhaps online discussion groups may be one way to build in a group experience at less cost than holding groups “IRl.”