"That camera adds ten pounds!:" women's reactions to visual weight-related feedback and the role of trait body checking

Appearance investment: The construct that changed the field of body image

In the mid-1990s, Thomas F. Cash developed the construct of appearance investment and an instrument to measure it, the Appearance Schemas Inventory (ASI). This was followed by a significant revision of this measure, the ASI-R. This instrument distinguished two dimensions to appearance investment, one referring to engagement in behaviours meant to improve appearance esthetics, and one referring to the importance of appearance for self-definition. The construct of appearance investment and its measurement gave rise to a new area of research that widened our understanding of body image beyond the ubiquitous construct of satisfaction. In this paper, we review the literature on appearance investment and offer conclusions based on the different study designs in which either the ASI or ASI-R were used. This is followed by general conclusions about the current state of the research on appearance investment, and future directions to improve our understanding of the factors contributing to the development of excessive investment in appearance.

"Selfie" harm: Effects on mood and body image in young women

"Selfies" (self-taken photos) are a common self-presentation strategy on social media. This study experimentally tested whether taking and posting selfies, with and without photo-retouching, elicits changes to mood and body image among young women. Female undergraduate students (N = 110) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: taking and uploading either an untouched selfie, taking and posting a preferred and retouched selfie to social media, or a control group. State mood and body image were measured pre- and post-manipulation. As predicted, there was a main effect of experimental condition on changes to mood and feelings of physical attractiveness. Women who took and posted selfies to social media reported feeling more anxious, less confident, and less physically attractive afterwards compared to those in the control group. Harmful effects of selfies were found even when participants could retake and retouch their selfies. This is the first experimental study showing that taking and posting selfies on social media causes adverse psychological effects for women.

Resilience, self-esteem, and body attitude in women from early to late adulthood

Background

There are only a few papers dealing with the correlation power of mental resources (i.e. resilience and self-esteem) and attitude towards one’s own body in women at different ages, from youth to late adulthood. The aim of the article was to present the results of research focusing on the influence of mental resources (resilience and self-esteem) on development of anti-health or health-promoting attitudes in adult women towards their own bodies.

Participants and procedure

The study involved 150 female participants aged 20–55 years. The following research methods were applied: the Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale SES, the Scale of Resilience Measurement SPP-25, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale by Thomson and Gray, the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory (MSEI), the Body Esteem Scale BES by Franzoi and Shields, the Eating Disorder Inventory EDI, and the Questionnaire of Behaviour Towards the Body.

Results

The conducted analysis indicated a relevant relation between individual resources (both general self-esteem and mental resiliency) and cognitive emotional attitude towards one’s own body in the examined women. The predictors of behaviours towards one’s own body in the examined women turned out to be only a strong drive to be thin and fear of gaining weight. The strongest predictors of self-assessment of the body and the evaluation of physical attractiveness were general self-esteem and resilience. Self-esteem turned out to be the strongest predictor for satisfaction with sexual attractiveness.

Conclusions

Early diagnosis of distorted body image, and adopting a negative attitude towards it, can help to make more detailed psychological diagnosis of individual’s resources (resiliency and self-esteem) and their role in the development of the attitude towards one’s own body.