Body Image

Appearance in general and body image in particular have become very important constructs in contemporary
Western societies.1 What is body image? It is an individual's perception of what he or she looks like. It might
not bear even a close resemblance to what the person actually looks like; it's what a person feels about his or her
body. Paul Ferdinand Schilder (1886-1940), an Austrian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and student of Sigmund
Freud, was the first to coin the phrase body image in his book The Image and Appearance of the Human body. A
person can have a positive body image or a negative body image influenced by various factors. This research
paper focuses on explaining these terms and their cause and effects.

Positive Body Image

People who have accepted their bodies and are content with how they look are said to have a positive body
image. Their appearance might not stand up to the media's or the society's ideals of beauty but they are
comfortable in their own skin and have love and respect for their bodies.

Negative Body Image

A negative body image develops when someone feels her or his body does not measure up to family, social, or
media ideals. There is a permanent feeling of inadequacy in such individuals. They might not even see
themselves as they truly are; an anorexic person might look in a mirror and imagine herself to be too fat. These
are people with distorted perceptions of what their body looks like. Such a condition has adverse effects on a
person's mental and physical health.

Factors Influencing Body Image

There are various factors that may influence body image. Some of them are:

Age: In their pre-teen and teenage years, kids go through puberty. It's a period of great change and
uncertainty when people are still struggling with their body image. Studies conducted show that body
image disorder is most common in females in their pre-teens and males in their teenage years. 2 Thus a
higher population of the youth has a negative body image while adults learn to accept themselves
eventually leading to a positive outlook on their bodies.
Gender: Studies conducted also show that females are more prone to having a negative body image than
males.
Personality traits: An individual with a perfectionist attitude would seek perfection in every aspect of his
or her life, including appearance. Such people have a higher chance of having a negative body image
than people who accept flaws. Also, people who often compare themselves with others would find it
difficult to accept their bodies as they are and would end up with low self esteem.
Friends/families/media: This is an important factor that influences a individual's body image. Critical
comments from friends or family, especially in the teenage years, might lead to an individual developing
a negative body image. Also, media's standards of beauty could greatly influence a person. Numerous
correlational and experimental studies have linked exposure to the thin ideal in mass media to body
dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal.3
Teasing/bullying: This factor affects the youth. Teasing or bullying by their peers would lead the
affected individuals to have a negative body image.
1
Body image: a handbook of science, practice and prevention, published in 2011, edited by Thomas Cash and Linda Smolak
2
Body image, eating disorders and obesity in youth, published in 2001, edited by JK Thompson and Linda Smolak
3
Body image and the media, by Julie M. Sparhawk, published in 2003.
Effects Of Negative Body Image
An individual with a positive body image would live a whole and healthy life, with a self-assurance that would
be missing in the life of a person having a negative body image. There are various negative psychological and
physical effects of a poor body image.

The most commonly heard impact of body dissatisfaction on teenage girls is eating disorders.
Incidence rates for anorexia nervosa have increased steadily from 1965 to 1990 among those aged
10-19 years. The reported prevalence rate for anorexia nervosa of 0.48% among girls 15-19 years old
in the United States makes this disorder the third most common chronic condition among adolescent
girls after obesity and asthma. 4 Anorexia nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating
disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. These statistics sends a
frightening message to the readers. The impact of an unhealthy body image is truly severe and
shouldn't be taken lightly.
It might have major psychological impacts too, like emotional distress, low self esteem, anxiety,
even depression. All this might lead to social withdrawal, a general lack of enthusiasm to take part in
activities or even worse. Body image is viewed as a fundamental in personality development, thus,
individuals with a poor body image would naturally suffer from low self-esteem and confidence
issues. Studies indicate that anxiety issues and depression in adolescents is closely linked to body
image disorder.5
It might also have other effects like over-indulgence in substance abuse, unhealthy exercise regimes,
unhealthy dieting, poor development of interpersonal skills.

Conclusion
There have been substantial improvements in our knowledge about body image over the past few years but
researchers need to broaden their horizons and expand their definitions of body image. In today's world where
beauty ideals keep changing each minute, body image dissatisfaction is becoming a bigger threat to the society.
Also, all studies conducted so far have been focused on females or adolescents. It is imperative that studies
focus on the increasing body dissatisfaction among males and adults. These studies also need to take ethnic and
cultural differences into account. Body dissatisfaction is a major issue that must not be taken lightly. Measures
need to be taken to help those in need.

4
Eating disorders in adolescents, Published in 1995
5
Marion Kostanski and Eleonora Gullone (1998). Adolescent Body Image Dissatisfaction: Relationships with Self-esteem, Anxiety, and Depression
Controlling for Body Mass. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry