scholarly journals Impact of Face Masks on Female Body Perception is Modulated by Facial Expressions

Perception ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 030100662110610
Author(s):  
Eleanor Mills ◽  
Kun Guo

People routinely wear face masks during the pandemic, but little is known about their impact on body perception. In this online study, we presented female body images of Caucasian avatars in common dress sizes displaying happy, angry, and neutral facial expressions with and without face masks, and asked women to rate the perceived body attractiveness and body size. In comparison with mask-off condition, mask-on decreased body attractiveness ratings for happy avatars but did not affect ratings for neutral avatars irrespective of avatar dress sizes. For avatars displaying angry expressions, mask-on increased body attractiveness ratings for slimmer avatars but did not affect ratings for larger avatars. On the other hand, body size estimation was not systematically affected by face masks and facial expressions. It appears that face masks mainly show an expression-dependent influence on body attractiveness judgement, possibly through suppressing the perceived facial expressions.

Body Image ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marita P. McCabe ◽  
Lina A. Ricciardelli ◽  
Geeta Sitaram ◽  
Katherine Mikhail

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Alexi ◽  
Kendra Dommisse ◽  
Dominique Cleary ◽  
Romina Palermo ◽  
Nadine Kloth ◽  
...  

1995 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Molinari

The aim was to explore the body-image perception of a group of 20 hospitalised anorexic patients, aged 18 to 21 years, undergoing a period of treatment. The instrument used was the Askevold nonverbal perception test as modified by Allamani and colleagues in 1978 to assess perception of the dimensions of different parts of the body by exploiting the capacity to project them into space. The four parts were the head, the thoracic area, the abdominal area, and the pelvic area. Analysis of responses indicated that anorexic patients overestimated the abdominal and the pelvic areas much more than the 20 members of the control group (50% vs 30%). The areas of the head and thorax were perceived almost in their real dimensions by the anorexic patients but were underestimated by the control group.


1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pau Pérez Sales ◽  
Rosa Calvo Sagardoy ◽  
Teresa Ferrer Gila

Although body image problems are a major prognostic factor in the course of eating disorders, its treatment has received little attention in the research literature. We present two psychophysiologically controlled cases of intensive exposure treatment with conflicting outcomes. Pre-post treatment assessments included measurements of body size estimation, body related avoidant attitudes and body dissatisfaction. In case 1, although dissatisfaction and avoidant attitudes decreased, body size overestimation remained basically unchanged. Case 2 did not improve. Psychophysiological recordings showed a covert avoidance of treatment stimuli. We discuss the pros and the cons of the treatment, and the implications for the use of exposure therapy in body image disorders.


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