Looking at body image: the organization of self-knowledge about physical appearance and its relation to disordered eating.
This study examined the organization of self-knowledge, with special attention to beliefs about physical appearance, in three groups of college-aged women: high body dissatisfaction with symptoms of disordered eating; high body dissatisfaction with no symptoms of disorder; and low body dissatisfaction. In the nondisordered, dissatisfied group, negative beliefs about physical appearance were organized in the self-structure in a way that isolated those beliefs and might minimize their impact and importance. This group also displayed adaptive types of self-concept organization (evaluative integration for those with important negative self-beliefs and compartmentalization for those with important positive beliefs) and effective coping strategies. Features of self-structure that characterize the nondisordered,dissatisfied group may provide a useful model for helping individuals with disordered eating cope with their negative physical appearance beliefs.
Showers
C J
CJ
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. cshowers@ou.edu
Larson
B E
BE
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012649:Self Concept; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires