Historically, I've conducted research on eating disorders prevention, body image, and obesity. More recently, my team has studied fat talk, body snarking of others, and how victimization of interpersonal violence is a risk for poor body image and eating disorders in women and anabolic steroid abuse in young men. "Fat talk" is when girls and women complain about their appearance with others. "Body snarking" or fat shaming is when individuals bully others by snarking about their physical appearance. I call both of these forms of messaging our "feminine enemies." I am currently working on a book that includes feminist and scientific analyses of these toxic types of communications.
Website: https://psych.appstate.edu/faculty-staff/denise-m-martz
Recent GWS Scholarship
Martz, D.M. (2019). Fat Talk: A Feminist Perspective. McFarland Publishing: Jefferson, NC.
Ellis, J.M, Schenk, R., Galloway, A.T., Zickgraf, H., Webb, R.M., & Martz, D.M. (2018). A multidimensional approach to understanding the potential risk factors and covariates of adult picky eating. Appetite, 125, 1-9. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2018.01.016
Ballard, M.E., Jameson, J. P., & Martz, D.M. (2017). Sexual identity and risk behaviors among adolescents in the rural southern United States. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 41(1), 17-29. doi:10.1037/rmh0000068
Rogers, C., Martz, D.M., Webb, R.M., & Galloway, A. (2017). Everyone else is doing it (I think): The power of perception in fat talk. Body Image, 20, 116-119. DOI10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.01.004
Martz, D.M., & Rogers, C.B. (November 1, 2016). Understanding and treating women's body image and eating disorders. North Carolina Medicine Journal, November, 77(6), 385-387.
Ellis, J.M., Galloway, A.T., Webb, R.M., & Martz, D. M. (2016). Measuring adult picky eating: The development of a multidimensional self-report instrument. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 29(8), 955-966.
Ellis, J.M., Galloway, A.T., Webb, R.M., Martz, D. M., & Farrow, C.V. (2016). Recollections of pressure to eat during childhood, but not picky eating, predict young adult eating behavior. Appetite, 97, 58-63.
Fiery, M., Martz, D.M., Webb, R.M., & Curtin, L.A. (2016). “She’s (and He’s) Got it Going On:” An Exploration of Racial Differences in Favorable and Unfavorable Body Talk. Eating Behaviors, 21, 232-235. doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2016.03.004
Mikell, C. M., & Martz, D.M. (2016). Women’s Fat Talk Can Kill the Mood for Men. Eating Behaviors, 21, 211-213. doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2016.03.007
Martz, D.M., Jameson, J.P., & Page, A.D. (2016). Psychological health and academic success in rural adolescents exposed to physical and sexual violence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. doi: 10.1037/ort0000174
Title: Professor
Department: Department of Psychology
Email address: Email me
Phone: (828) 262-2272 x429