AUTHOR=Xu Ruijie , Chen Changkai 

TITLE=The relationship of benevolent sexism and disordered eating in China: the role of appearance comparison on social network sites

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1648431

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1648431

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=IntroductionThis study focuses on disordered eating (DE), a critical mental health issue among university students. Specifically, it examines the relationship between benevolent sexism (BS) and DE, and explores the underlying psychological mechanisms.MethodsA questionnaire-based survey was conducted to investigate the association between BS and DE, as well as the mediating role of appearance comparison on social networking sites (SNSs) and the moderating role of gender. A sample of 2,000 Chinese college students completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory, and the Social Network Site Appearance Comparison Scale. Using Hayes’ Process Macro, this study tested both a mediation model (Model 4) and a moderated mediation model (Model 59).ResultsThe results showed that BS was positively associated with both appearance comparison on SNSs (a = 0.038, p < 0.001) and DE (c = 0.091, p = 0.001). Appearance comparison on SNSs was positively associated with DE (b = 1.733, p < 0.001) and partially mediated the link between BS and DE (ab = 0.066, 95% CI [0.04, 0.10]). Gender further moderated these associations: BS can directly predict DE among females (cfemale = 0.207, p < 0.001) but not among males (cmale = 0.033, p = 0.319), and the effect of appearance comparison on SNSs on DE was stronger for females (bfemale = 1.966, p < 0.001) than for males (bmale = 1.586, p < 0.001). Conditional indirect effects confirmed that the mediation pathway was significant for males (abmale = 0.070, 95% CI [0.04, 0.11]) but not significant for females (abfemale = 0.051, 95% CI [−0.01, 0.11]).DiscussionThese results integrate Ambivalent Sexism Theory with Social Comparison Theory, illustrating how BS operates within China’s digital and culrural contexts to heighten the risk of disordered eating. The findings emphasize the necessity of culturally grounded and digitally informed interventions that counter benevolent sexist ideologies and reduce appearance-focused social comparison.