Body-esteem scale for adolescents and adults.
Body esteem (BE) refers to self-evaluations of one's body or appearance. This article outlines a BE questionnaire for adolescents and adults that has 3 subscales: BE-Appearance (general feelings about appearance), BE-Weight (weight satisfaction), and BE-Attribution (evaluations attributed to others about one's body and appearance). The subscales have high internal consistency and 3-month test-retest reliability. Females scored lower than males on BE-Weight and BE-Appearance. BE-Weight was the only subscale uniquely related to weight, especially in females, with heavy individuals tending to be dissatisfied with their weight. BE-Appearance was the only subscale that consistently predicted self-esteem. BE-Appearance and BE-Weight covaried more with Neeman and Harter's (1986) Appearance subscale than with other self-esteem subscales; BE-Attribution covaried more with social self-esteem subscales than did BE-Appearance and BE-Weight.
Mendelson
B K
BK
Department of Psychology, Concordia University. mmendelson@psych.mcgill.ca
Mendelson
M J
MJ
White
D R
DR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011792:Quebec; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception; D013008:Somatotypes