Everyone else is doing it (I think): The power of perception in fat talk

Abstract Fat talk (FT) involves critiquing one’s own appearance in social conversations. Although peers are known to prompt FT behavior, there has been little exploration of the influence of mothers and research has not distinguished between self-reported FT and perceptions of FT. This study addresses this research gap by investigating the relationships between participants’ FT and corresponding FT of both self-reported and perceived FT of their mothers and friends. A sample of 120 undergraduate women, along with their mothers and friends, reported their FT behavior. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that friend-reported (but not mother-reported) FT and the daughters’ perceived FT of both friends and mothers were significant predictors of daughter FT. However, daughters’ perceptions of their friends’ and mothers’ FT predicted a significantly larger portion of variance than self-reported FT of friends and mothers. These results are important to consider when examining potential influences on the development of FT behavior.