Chinese and American College Students' Body-Image: Perceived Body Shape and Body Affect

1998 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiyun Chen ◽  
Ricky L. Swalm

This study examined the differences in the measures of perception of body shape and body affect among Chinese and American college male and female students. 289 Chinese students in China and 180 American students in the United States voluntarily completed the Body-image Questionnaire, comprised of four categories: (a) anthropometric data, (b) self-perception of body shape, (c) body affect, and (d) desired body shape. American students were significantly more likely than Chinese students to perceive their body shapes as being larger, but both Chinese and American students tended to perceive their body shapes accurately. For body affect, both Chinese and American female students who perceived themselves as thin had positive feelings about their bodies, while both groups of female students who perceived themselves as heavy had negative feelings about their bodies. American women were more likely than Chinese women to have negative feelings about their bodies. American students also placed high value on muscular firmness as part of their ideal female body shape, while Chinese students added plumpness as another component for judging ideal female body shape. Both Chinese and American men valued physical strength as a major component for body satisfaction.

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-34
Author(s):  
Alicja Głębocka ◽  
Magdalena Rudlicka ◽  
Grzegorz Kulik

Background: Research on the consequences of fear of death often consists of classical investigations within the sphere of social psychology. However, the aspect of body image regarding this issue remains largely unexplored. Aim of the study: The goal of the conducted experiment was to examine the mechanisms reducing the fear of death. The respondents had two options to choose from: (1) increasing self-esteem in terms of physical attractiveness, or (2) lowering the rating of the body image presented in the photographs. Material and methods: The study was conducted using the following tests: (1) the Memory Test, developed by Łukaszewski and Buczny; (2) the Body-Esteem Scale (BE S), developed by Franzoi and Shields; (3) the UMACL Mood Adjective Checklist, developed by Mathews, Chamberlain, and Jones; and (4) the Body Shape Attractiveness Questionnaire. In this report, we present results of an analysis of 221 respondents (108 women and 113 men). Results: Death-related thoughts influence the perception of female body attractiveness. Respondents with awareness of mortality salience rated the attractiveness of body shape as lower than respondents from the control group. Conclusions: The present experiment confirmed the influence of fear of death on the evaluation of cultural and biological standards of female physical attractiveness, as well as, the hesitation of participants’ self-esteem and mood related to sex. The lack of critical evaluation of others and a positive self-evaluation effectively protects an individual against mood deterioration, and these effects were observed among men. However, these mechanisms do not apply to women, since women reacted critically to both body shapes in the photographs and their own bodies.


Animation ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-36
Author(s):  
Rebecca Rowe

The debate over whether television and film affect girls’ body image has been contentious. Researchers argue that film and television negatively affect, only partially affect, or do not affect girls’ body image. These studies have one common limitation: they approach animated female bodies as if they are the same because they are, mostly, thin. In this project, the author seeks to extend and complicate this existing scholarship by analyzing bodies in 67 films produced by several American animation studios from 1989 through 2016. In this study, she classifies 239 female characters as one of four body types: Hourglass, Pear, Rectangle, or Inverted Triangle. Her argument is two-fold: (1) over the last 30 years, there has been a shift from a singular dominant shape (Hourglass) to the dominance of several body shapes (especially Pear and Rectangle); and (2) young girls may be affected by characters their own age who have been largely ignored in studies thus far. The author argues that young girls see diverse images of bodies rather than the singular image that scholars study. Girls’ body image may be affected by animation, but animated images are so diverse that this effect may be difficult to determine. A more nuanced understanding of the body shapes animation utilizes may allow researchers to study the more complex messages that girls do or do not internalize.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Aparecida Conti ◽  
Táki Athanássios Cordás ◽  
Maria do Rosário Dias de Oliveira Latorre

OBJECTIVES: to produce evidence of the validity and reliability of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) - a tool for measuring an individual's attitude towards his or her body image. METHODS: the study covered 386 young people of both sexes aged between 10 and 18 from a private school and used self-applied questionnaires and anthropometric evaluation. It evaluated the internal consistency, the discriminant validity for differences from the means, according to nutritional status (underweight, eutrophic, overweight and obese), the concurrent validity by way of Spearman's correlation coefficient between the scale and the Body Mass Index (BMI), the waist-hip circumference ratio (WHR) and the waist circumference (WC). Reliability was tested using Wilcoxon's Test, the intraclass correlation coefficient and the Bland-Altman figures. RESULTS: the BSQ displayed good internal consistency (±=0.96) and was capable of discriminating among the total population, boys and girls, according to nutritional status (p<0.001). It correlated with the BMI (r=0.41; p<0.001), WHR (r=-0.10; p=0.043) and WC (r=0.24; p<0.001) and its reliability was confirmed by intraclass correlation (r=0.91; p<0.001) for the total population. The questionnaire was easy to understand and could be completed quickly. CONCLUSIONS: the BSQ presented good results, thereby providing evidence of its validity and reliability. It is therefore recommended for evaluation of body image attitudes among adolescents.


Body schema refers to the system of sensory-motor functions that enables control of the position of body parts in space, without conscious awareness of those parts. Body image refers to a conscious representation of the way the body appears—a set of conscious perceptions, affective attitudes, and beliefs pertaining to one’s own bodily image. In 2005, Shaun Gallagher published an influential book entitled ‘How the Body Shapes the Mind’. This book not only defined both body schema (BS) and body image (BI), but also explored the complicated relationship between the two. The book also established the idea that there is a double dissociation, whereby body schema and body image refer to two different, but closely related, systems. Given that many kinds of pathological cases can be described in terms of body schema and body image (phantom limbs, asomatognosia, apraxia, schizophrenia, anorexia, depersonalization, and body dysmorphic disorder, among others), we might expect to find a growing consensus about these concepts and the relevant neural activities connected to these systems. Instead, an examination of the scientific literature reveals continued ambiguity and disagreement. This volume brings together leading experts from the fields of philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry in a lively and productive dialogue. It explores fundamental questions about the relationship between body schema and body image, and addresses ongoing debates about the role of the brain and the role of social and cultural factors in our understanding of embodiment.


Sexes ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-39
Author(s):  
Sean M. McNabney

With approximately two-thirds of the United States adult population classified as overweight or obese, obesity remains a critical public health concern. Obesity not only contributes to several health complications including type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease, but the condition is also associated with sexual dysfunction in both women and men. Despite evidence linking obesity and its concomitant pathophysiology to sexual problems, the potential roles of psychosocial factors such as body image are understudied. This narrative review evaluates the research linkages between obesity and sexual dysfunction, with particular attention to the potential effects of body image dissatisfaction. A literature search of biomedical and psychological databases was used to identify research pertaining to obesity, sexual function, and/or body image constructs. The pathophysiological effects of obesity on sexual function are well-documented in mechanistic studies and animal trials, often with corroboration in human clinical samples. However, very few studies examine obesity, body image, and sexual function in tandem. Body image dissatisfaction appears to independently impinge upon the sexual response cycle and mental health outcomes, irrespective of body weight. While obesity is often associated with negative body image appraisal, it is unclear whether these constructs exert additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects on sexual responsivity. Additionally, overweight/obese individuals who exhibit higher levels of body image satisfaction or self-confidence appear to be protected from the deleterious effects of obesity on sexual satisfaction, at least to some extent. Greater reliance upon conceptual/theoretical models from the body image literature may better clarify the relationships between these constructs.


Author(s):  
Bhawini Vasudeva

The aim to conduct this research is to enlighten the impact of body image dissatisfaction on an individual’s self-esteem and to examine whether there is a gender difference in this case or not. There are a total of 220 numbers of participants, with equal number of males and females in the sample set. The tool that’d be using here is a modified short version of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) by Cooper et. Al. in the year in 1987 and The Rosenberg self-esteem scale by Morris Rosenberg (RSES) in the year 1965. The current research proved that whenever there’ll be higher body image dissatisfaction, it’ll result in less self-esteem. Other than that, it stated that females (M= 22.69 and SD= 3.64) have a higher mean score in body image dissatisfaction than and males (M=23.28 and SD= 3.6), therefore, the men have a higher mean score of self-esteem than females.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eonyou Shin ◽  
Elahe Saeidi

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to categorize the whole body shapes of overweight and obese females in the US and examine apparel fit based on the current ASTM sizing standards related to the body shapes categorized.Design/methodology/approachBody scan data from 2,672 subjects were used. To categorize their whole body shapes using 97 body measurements, principal component analysis with varimax rotation, a hierarchical cluster analysis and K-means cluster analysis were used. To compare the ASTM sizing standards for plus sizes (curvy and straight) and missy sizes (curvy and straight), five body parts (bust, under bust, waist, top hip, hip) using the formula for fit tolerance (measurement plus half of the interval) were compared with the ASTM sizing standards to determine the size appropriate for each body part.FindingsFive whole body shapes among overweight and obese females in the US were categorized: Rectangle-curvy; parallelogram-moderately curvy; parallelogram-hip tilt; inverted trapezoid-moderately curvy and inverted trapezoid-hip tilt. When the body measurements in each body shape were compared with the current ASTM sizing systems for both misses and plus sizes, four-fifths or more of overweight and obese female adults in the US would find it difficult to obtain a perfect fit for both tops and bottoms.Originality/valueIdentifying whole body shapes among overweight and obese women in the US contributes significantly, as it will help apparel companies that target the markets of larger women develop a new sizing system. This study is the first attempt to analyze fit by comparing the ASTM sizing charts with body measurements in each body shape group. Further, the study contributes to the body-related literature by filling gaps in missing whole BS categories among overweight and obese females.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-126
Author(s):  
Fahimeh Rezayat ◽  
Myron Sheu

Purpose Motivated by the perceived disparity between supply and demand for skilled workers in STEM fields, namely, science, technology, engineering and math, the purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical study of attitude and readiness for STEM education and careers among American and Chinese college students in business disciplines. The authors’ findings point out that students in China and the USA have some significantly different perspectives of STEM maybe because they are prepared and inspired differently. These differences may have fundamentally impacted their attitude and readiness for pursuing a STEM career. Implications from this research project should be noteworthy to educators and academic administrators so that appropriate curricula and cultivation can be offered. Design/methodology/approach The authors have decided to look into the situation using a comparison approach by surveying a randomly chosen group of college students from China and another from the USA and then analyzed their responses to the authors’ delicately constructed survey in a hope of finding any patterns that may cause the authors to rethink about the authors’ approaches to cultivating interest in STEM. Findings The findings described in the paper should offer us some significant, though still preliminary, implications as follows: both American and Chinese students admire STEM careers, but feel rewarding differently; American students may have other career choices that may be equal or more rewarding while Chinese students choose STEM fields by following a cultural norm; having early exposure to science subjects and gaining relevant experience help grow interest in STEM among American students, but such exposure may bring about negative effect on career choices; American female students are at least as capable of succeeding in STEM as their male counterparts; American students seek more advice on their career choices than Chinese students who may follow a cultural norm. Advisory service from teachers and parents may impact differently from peer influence does; extracurricular activities can more positively affect interest in STEM than taking science courses. Research limitations/implications Although the survey has collected responses from only business students in both countries, the resulting implications should reflect what a sizable segment of college students feel and think about STEM and thus should allow educators and institutional administrators to use as evidence in pursuing innovative curricula and advisory services that would better prepare our future students for STEM education and beyond, especially in those disciplines, like business administration, in which STEM skills are increasingly in demand. Practical implications Some significant, though still preliminary, implications should be readily drawn from the study: first, both American and Chinese students admire STEM careers, but rewarding may mean different things to them. American students may have other career choices that may be equal or more rewarding per their definition of rewarding while Chinese students may pursue STEM fields by following a cultural norm rather than by considering it rewarding. Second, having early exposure to science subjects and gaining relevant experience can help grow interest in STEM among American students, but such exposure, especially taking science courses, may bring about negative effect on career choices. Extracurricular activities can more positively affect interest in STEM than taking science courses. Third, female students are at least as equally interested and capable of succeeding in STEM as their male counterparts, but their interest and confidence may be more vulnerable to challenges imposed by market reality and cultural bias. Fourth, American students seek more advice when available on their career choices than Chinese students do as the former may face more competing career choices and possess less preparation for STEM than the latter does. Finally, advisory service from teachers and parents may impact differently than the influence peers can perpetrate. Club activities when peers can naturally influence each other may be quite effective in promoting interest in and preparing readiness for STEM, and these activities are more effective to American students than Chinese students and to male students than female students. Originality/value Nine hypotheses are proposed to validate through this empirical study. These hypotheses reflect thoughts upon the literature review and pertain to the factors that should impact STEM education.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Fauzana Alidia

Body image is a description of perceptions, feelings and attitudes about the body as a whole person or a particular the part of body. The differences of body image is influenced by several aspects. Among of them, there is gender. The aims of this research are :1 ) to describe the body image of male students , 2 ) to describe the body image of female students, and 3 ) to find out the body image differences between male students and female students. This research was descriptive research by using quantitative approach. The population of this research was the students of grade XI SMA Negeri Tanjung Mutiara in the period of 2013/2014 (285). Amount of research sample was 56 male students and 110 female students and had been chosen by using simple random technique. The instrument that had been used was Likert scale model. The first and second research purpose were analyzed by using percentage technique, and the third research purpose were analyzed by using t-test. The results of research are: 1) Body image of male students are in the high category, 2) Body image of female students are in the high category, 3) There is a differences between male body image and female body image.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Del Pilar Ureña-Molina ◽  
Mayerlin Pacheco-Milian ◽  
Mónica Janett Rondón-Ortega

Objetivo: determinar la relación entre las conductas alimentarias de riesgo y la imagen corporal en los estudiantes de enfermería durante el primer semestre del año 2015. Materiales y Métodos: estudio de tipo cuantitativo, correlacional. Se utilizaron como instrumentos, el Test de Imagen Corporal - Cuestionario Body Shape Questionnaire y el Test De Actitudes Alimentarias - 26. La muestra estuvo conformada por 181 estudiantes. Resultados: la mayor proporción de estudiantes pertenecen al género femenino, las edades fluctuaron entre los 16 a 28 años, predominando el estado civil soltero, pertenecientes a un estrato socioeconómico bajo (1 -2) y conviven con sus padres. El 63% obtuvo un estado nutricional normal, la mayor parte de ellos no presentaron conductas alimentarias de Riesgo (94%) y se encontraban satisfechos con su imagen corporal (91%). Se estableció una relación estadísticamente significativa entre las conductas alimentarias de riesgo y la imagen corporal. Conclusiones: los estudiantes de enfermería, en su mayoría, no presentaron conductas alimentarias de riesgo, es decir, no realizan prácticas extremas para el control de su peso corporal y los que la presentaron, pueden tener afectaciones en su desempeño académico, las relaciones interpersonales y la calidad de vida. Así mismo, la mayoría de ellos mostraron una apreciación satisfactoria de su imagen corporal y un pequeño porcentaje, estuvo insatisfecho, reflejando diversos desórdenes de tipo conductual, cognitivo y emocional. Se determinó que la integridad de la imagen corporal disminuye la presencia de conductas alimentarias de riesgo. PALABRAS CLAVE: actitud frente a la salud, enfermería, hábitos alimenticios, satisfacción personal. Risky eating behaviors and their relationship with body image among nursing students                                                                   ABSTRACTGoal: to determine the relationship between eating disorders and body image in nursing students during the first half of 2015. Materials and Methods: quantitative, correlational study. There was used as instrument the Test of Body Image - Body Shape Questionnaire and the Eating Attitudes Test - 26. The sample consisted of 181 students. Results: the highest proportion of students are female, ages  between 16-28 years, they have mainly single marital status and they belong to a low socioeconomic status (1 -2) and they  lived with their parents. 63% of them had a normal nutritional status, most of them did not present eating behavior risks (94%) and felt happy with their body image (91%). A statistically significant relationship between eating disorders and body image is established. Conclusions: the nursing students in their higher proportion presented no risk eating behaviors, that means that they do not perform extreme practices to control their body weight and that showed that they can have problems in their academic performance, interpersonal relationships and quality of life. Likewise, most of them showed good appreciation of their body image and a small percentage was dissatisfied, reflecting various behavioral disorders, cognitive and emotional. It was determined that the integrity of the body image decreases the presence of eating disorders.KEYWORDS: attitude to health, nursing, eating habits, personal satisfaction. Comportamentos alimentares de risco e sua relação com a imagem corporal entre estudantes de enfermagem comRESUMO Objetivo: para determinar a relação entre transtornos alimentares e imagem corporal em estudantes de enfermagem durante o primeiro semestre de 2015. Materiais e Métodos: quantitativa, de correlação. Eles foram usados como instrumentos de teste de imagem corporal - Body Shape Questionnaire Questionnarire e Eating Attitudes Test - 26. A amostra foi composta por 181 alunos. Resultados: a maior proporção de estudantes são do sexo feminino, a idade variou entre 16-28 anos, estado civil, principalmente único, pertencente a um baixo nível socioeconômico (1 -2) e viveu com seus pais. 63% tiveram um estado nutricional normal, a maioria de les não apresentava risco comportamentos alimentares (94%) e foram satisfeitos com a sua imagem corporal (91%). Uma relação estatisticamente significativa entre a imagem corporal transtornos alimentares e é estabelecido. Conclusões: o estudantes de enfermagem em sua maior parte apresentou nenhum risco comportamentos alimentares, o que significa que não realizam práticas extremas para controlar seu peso corporal e os que apresentavam pode ter danos em seu desempenho acadêmico, relações interpessoais e qualidade de vida. Da mesma forma, a maioria deles mostrou uma avaliação satisfatória da imagem corporal e uma pequena percentagem, estava insatisfeito, refletindo vários distúrbios comportamentais, cognitivos e emocionais. Determinou-se que a integridade da imagem corporal diminui a presença de distúrbios alimentares. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: atitude para a saúde, nutrição, hábitos alimentares, a satisfação pessoal.  


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