RESEARCH_FILE
Renee Engeln
Northwestern University
Known for:Quantitative research on fat talk and negative body talk among women
Key findings
- 2011
With Rachel Salk, found that 93% of college women reported engaging in fat talk with friends; its frequency was associated with body dissatisfaction and thin-ideal internalization but not BMI, and the most common response was the friend denying the speaker was fat — a loop that invites repetition. "If You're Fat, Then I'm Humongous!" Frequency, Content, and Impact of Fat Talk Among College Women ↗
- 2012
With Salk and Miller, developed and validated the Negative Body Talk scale, giving research a standardized measure of women's negative commentary on their own bodies and linking it to body dissatisfaction and related outcomes. Assessing Women's Negative Commentary on Their Own Bodies: A Psychometric Investigation of the Negative Body Talk Scale ↗