The Dark Side of Compliments: An Explorative Analysis of What’s Eating You

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to examine whether personal compliments stand as a form of positive reinforcement to eating disorder behaviors. The transcription of the show, What’s Eating You?, resulted in 72 single-spaced pages of text. The data analysis revealed that compliments were viewed as positive reinforcement for continuing the use of an eating disorder. Two sub-themes were salient. First, some individuals received positive reinforcement from friends or parents in high school, leading the individuals to desire more weight loss through use of bulimia or anorexia. Second, other indicated that at first they had either gained weight due to overeating or puberty, which led to negative reinforcement from loved ones or peers. As result, these individuals started binging and purging or starving self, which led to receiving positive reinforcement. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed in relation to eating disorder awareness, compliments, and reinforcement theory.

Keywords::

• Compliments
• Eating Disorders
• Reinforcement Theory
• Risk

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anna R. Herrman

Anna R. Herrman (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2013) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies, St. Norbert College, 100 Grant Street, De Pere, WI 54115. E-mail: [email protected]