title: Seeing ghosts: negative body evaluation predicts overestimation of negative social feedback.
abstract: The current study investigated whether negative body evaluation predicts women's overestimation of negative social feedback related to their own body (i.e., covariation bias). Sixty-five female university students completed a computer task where photos of their own body, of a control woman's body, and of a neutral object, were followed by nonverbal social feedback (i.e., facial crowds with equal numbers of negative, positive, and neutral faces). Afterward, women estimated the percentage of negative, positive, and neutral social feedback that followed their own body, the control woman's body, and the neutral object. The findings provided evidence for a covariation bias: negative body evaluation predicted higher estimates of negative social feedback for women's own body, but not for the other stimuli. Additionally, the covariation bias was not explained by differences in how women interpreted the social feedback (the facial stimuli). Clinical implications of the covariation bias to body image are discussed.
authors: Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Jessica.Alleva@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors: Jessica M
authors: JM
authors: Alleva
authors: Department of Clinical Psychology & Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors: Wolf-Gero
authors: WG
authors: Lange
authors: Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Anita
authors: A
authors: Jansen
authors: Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Carolien
authors: C
authors: Martijn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body evaluation; Cognitive processing; Covariation bias; Interpersonal experiences; Social feedback