The Relationship Between Childhood Traumas with Social Appearance Anxiety and Symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder: The Mediating Role of Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance

Background: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and social anxiety are two concepts related to body dissatisfaction. These concepts have been linked to sociocultural attitudes to appearances and painful experiences in interpersonal relationships. Objectives: The present study examines the relationship between childhood traumas with social appearance anxiety (SAA) and BDD through the mediating role of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance (SATA). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 415 university students in Tehran, Iran using the convenience sampling method in 2019 - 2020. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 and Amos version 21 software. Results: According to our results, while childhood traumas were not directly related to BDD (β = 0.059; SE = 0.31), SAA seemed to play a statistically significant mediating role (β = 0.17; SE = 0.005). Moreover, childhood trauma was related to SAA both directly (β = 0.24; SE = 0.001) and through the mediating role of SATA. In addition, SATA (β = 0.17; SE = 0.005) significantly predicted BDD (β = 0.27, P < 0.001). The assumed model was in good fit with the acquired data (CFI = 0.97, GFI = 0.95, NFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.046). Conclusions: Children who have had traumatic experiences may experience anxiety and self-doubt. Thus, childhood traumas are ostensibly related to signs of BDD and SAA through the mediation of sociocultural attitudes. Childhood traumas can also predict susceptibility to rejection in interpersonal relationships. However, no results have been found to mediate rejection sensitivity concerning trauma with BDD and SAA.

The Relationship between Obligatory Exercise and Eating Attitudes, and the Mediating Role of Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

A strong sociocultural context could affect an individual’s aesthetic standards. In order to achieve a socially recognized ideal appearance, obligatory exercisers might increase dieting behavior when exercise actions are disturbed, thereby placing the individual at risk of eating disorders. The current study mainly examined the relationship between obligatory exercise and eating attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and considered the mediating role of externalized sociocultural attitudes towards appearance between the two. A total of 342 participants (175 females, 167 males) from various regions of China were invited to fill out the questionnaires including the Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire, the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3, and the Eating Attitudes Test. In total, 51.5% of the participants presented symptoms of an obligatory exercise behavior. Among them, males, young adults, and the participants with lower BMI had higher OEQ scores, whereas females and young adults had higher EAT-26 scores. Meanwhile, 9.4% of the participants might have had an eating disorder. The OEQ score was positively correlated with the EAT-26 total score as well as SATAQ-3 ‘Pressures’ and ‘Information’ subscales. In addition, the EAT-26 total score was positively correlated with the SATAQ-3 ‘Pressures’ and ‘Information’ subscales. Externalized sociocultural attitudes towards appearance served as a mediator between obligatory exercise behavior and eating attitudes, and the mediation effect accounted for 56.82% of the total effect. Obligatory exercise behavior may have an indirect effect on eating attitudes through sociocultural attitudes towards appearance. Given the sociocultural information and pressures, in order to maintain or pursue an ideal appearance, many people tend to keep a pathological diet. Thus, forming a positive and healthy social aesthetic orientation is beneficial in helping obligatory exercisers to develop reasonable eating habits.

Mexican validation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3) in men undergraduate students / Validación mexicana del Cuestionario de Actitudes Socioculturales hacia la Apariencia (SATAQ-3) en estudiantes universitarios varones

The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3) is one of the instruments used to measure the influence of mass media on adolescents, and is a useful instrument that has been widely applied in different countries and translated to many languages. The present study is the first validation of the Mexican version of the SATAQ-3 with a male college student sample. A total of 148 students participated in the study (M = 19.1, SD = 2.14). A principal axis factor analysis was used to evaluate the scale, yielding a poor result, due to the formation of an extra factor with reverse-keyed items. Therefore, reversed key items were removed and a second analysis was conducted. After removing reverse-key items, a four-factor structure was obtained: Pressures, Internalization-general, Internalization-athletic, and Information. The internal consistency obtained for SATAQ-3 was satisfactory (α = .81), however, it was slightly lower than the original. Regarding the concurrent validation, the SATAQ-3 presented significant correlations with body dissatisfaction, social perfectionism and psychological distress. SATAQ-3 is an appropriate instrument to measure the internalization of aesthetic ideals and acceptance, among male college students in Mexico.ResumenUno de los cuestionarios más utilizados para medir la influencia de los medios de comunicación es el Cuestionario de Actitudes Socioculturales hacia la Apariencia (SATAQ-3), el cual ha sido traducido a varias lenguas y aplicado en distintos países. El presente estudio constituye la primera validación mexicana del SATAQ-3 en varones. Participaron 148 estudiantes universitarios (M = 19.1, DE = 2.14). Para evaluar la escala se realizó un análisis factorial de ejes principales, obteniendo inicialmente un resultado pobre, dada la formación de un factor extra con los ítems con redacción inversa. Por esta razón dichos ítems fueron removidos y se condujo un segundo análisis que derivó una estructura de cuatro factores: Presión, Interiorización general, Interiorización atlética, e Información. La consistencia interna del SATAQ-3 fue satisfactoria (α = .81), sin embargo fue un poco menor a la obtenida de la escala original. Respecto a la validación concurrente, el SATAQ-3 presentó correlaciones significativas con la insatisfacción corporal, el perfeccionismo social y el malestar psicológico. El SATAQ-3 es un instrumento apropiado para medir la interiorización de los ideales estéticos y su aceptación en estudiantes universitarios varones mexicanos.

Excitement lies elsewhere: Teenage film-makers and popular culture

When teenagers are given access to digital media equipment, their teachers and film club leaders may hope that they will take the opportunity to make films of personal significance. Instead, young people often choose to engage in a parodic dialogue with popular culture, in a process which feels more familiar and/or comfortable to them, providing as it does a creative space unburdened by expectations of sincere expression. From a survey of numerous short films made in Scotland, it is evident that the use of pastiche and parody facilitates both progressive and reactionary perspectives, often within the same film. Exploring a series of detailed case studies of films made by young people in Scotland in the early 2000s, this article argues that parody can provide for young people an aesthetic distance from personal expression, which, ironically, is unexpectedly revealing of generalised teenage sociocultural attitudes.

An Exploratory Assessment of Sociocultural Attitudes and Appearance Comparison Among Athletes With Physical Disabilities

This study aimed to assess the internalization of sociocultural attitudes and appearance comparison among U.S. athletes with physical disabilities. Female (n = 19) and male (n = 25) athletes between the ages of 18 and 73 years completed a quantitative survey along with two exploratory open-ended questions related to body appearance and influencers. Results showed significant correlations between internalization of the thin and low-body-fat ideal and appearance comparison (r = .55, p < .05) and internalization of the muscular ideal and appearance comparison (r = .76, p < .05) among women. For men, results showed a significant association between internalization of the muscular ideal and appearance comparison (r = .52, p < .05). The findings prompt further investigation of whether appearance comparison and internalization influence body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among athletes with physical disabilities.

The Bonnet and the Beret in Medieval and German Renaissance Art

This paper presents an art-historic contribution, examining the bonnet and the beret as characteristic forms of female and male headdresses and their manifold variations and oriental origins. Both types of head coverings are shaped by sociocultural attitudes and evolved in form. Embedded within the wider context of clothing they also, in turn, influence social norms and attitude. Examining their history and genesis also reveals and raises gender-specific perspectives and questions. The depiction and representation of the bonnet and beret during two defining periods in the visual arts, incorporating role-play and creativity, present a considerable knowledge transfer through media. First instances of gender-specific dress codes can be traced back to the Bible and therefore Paul’s rules for head covering for women in 1 Cor 11,2-16 is intensively debated. The following chapter will trace and illustrate the history of female and male head coverings on the example of various works of art. The strict rules outlined in 1 Corinthian 11 prescribing appropriate head coverings in ceremonial settings, which had a significant and lasting impact, have in time been transformed through the creative freedom afforded by the mundanity of fashion.

The Mediating Role of Intuitive Eating on the Association Between Self-control and Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Among Chinese College Students: a Cross-sectional Study

Background: In China, people pay more and more attention to their body image, and most people have a negative attitude towards their appearance. This study aimed to explore the relationship of self-control, intuitive eating, and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance among Chinese college students. We further aimed to assess whether intuitive eating mediates the association between research self-control and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1510 college students in a medical university during September–December 2020. Self-administered questionnaires including Self-control Scale (SCS), Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2), and Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3) were completed by students. Correlation, multiple linear regression, and structural equation modeling were used in data analyses.Results：The mean sociocultural attitude towards appearance score was 43.91±7.74 among the participants. After adjusting for the demographic factors, self-control accounted for 17.4% of the variance in sociocultural attitudes towards appearance, while intuitive eating explained an additional 2.6% of the variance. Self-control had a direct effect(λ=-0.57,P<0.01)and an indirect effect(λ=-0.11,P<0.01) on sociocultural attitudes towards appearance. Intuitive eating functioned as a partial mediator in the relationship between self-control and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance among Chinese students. The mediation role accounted for 16.41% of the total effect. Conclusions：Improving self-control is good for adjusting appearance attitudes, and one way to do this is to suppress intuitive eating. College students should improve their self-control and use it in ways other than suppressing intuitive eating.

Weight Stigma and Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Among Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Individuals

Purpose: The current study aims to examine weight stigma and sociocultural attitudes toward appearance among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals and heterosexual men and women. Methods: The sample consisted of heterosexual and LGB men and women. Participants were drawn from introductory psychology classes and a variety of supplemental recruitment methods (Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, MTURK, etc.). Results: Individuals identifying as male and individuals identifying as heterosexual had significantly greater weight bias than individuals identifying as female and individuals identifying as LGB. Additional gender identity and sexual orientation mean group differences among sociocultural attitudes were observed. While there were modest associations between weight bias and overall sociocultural attitudes, gender identity and sexual orientation had little impact on the strength of these associations. Conclusion: This investigation contributes to knowledge of the impact of gender identity and sexual orientation on weight stigma and sociocultural attitudes toward appearance.Level of EvidenceIII: Evidence obtained from cohort or case–control analytic studies.

Sociocultural Attitudes Regarding Gender Differences in Mathematics Education and Implications for Related Employment

For many years in several countries there has been gender inequality in mathematics achievement, and girls are less likely to study and specialize in precise sciences. A primary explanation for these gender differences is sociocultural. The attitudes and perceptions prevalent in a society’s culture regarding gen-der can affect students’ attitudes and performance in maths education and their choice to pursue pro-fessional careers in maths related areas. Studies have found that learning in single-sex classrooms can influence girls’ achievements and attitudes. The goal of the present study is to examine the attitudes of girls in mixed and single-sex classrooms towards mathematics and towards gender differences in mathematics. The study population included 281 students in the fifth to ninth grades, attending state-religious schools in Israel. The participants completed a multiple-choice questionnaire, which addressed their attitudes toward mathematics and possible differences between boys and girls. Most of the girls, in both types of classrooms, expressed positive attitudes towards learning mathematics and egalitarian views, although differences were found as girls learning in mixed-sex classes expressed views that were slightly more egalitarian. In addition, girls in single-sex classrooms expressed a moderately higher agreement in the “girls are better” category.

Investigating the Linkages between BMI, Body Image, and SATAQ among Young Asian Females

Sociocultural attitudes toward appearance and its linkage to body mass index (BMI) and body image is a relationship worth studying, especially in Asia, where the idealization of thinness can be prominent. The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ) developed by Heinberg et al. in 1995 was used in this study to examine whether these beliefs have been internalized. Furthermore, the Body Esteem Scale (BES) was used to quantify body image. The formal in-person survey was administered in Taipei, Taiwan. There were 301 valid samples out of 330 surveyed respondents. To enhance the representativeness of the samples, a stratified sampling technique was applied to generate survey data with valid samples following gender and age distributions of the population between the ages of 14 and 28. The internalization dimension represented how strongly the respondents considered the importance of the socially accepted concept of appearance based on personal perceived social norms. The other dimension, awareness, represented the sociocultural pressures from the outside world, such as from the image of slimness illustrated in the media or group, in comparison to personal beliefs. Our results demonstrated that respondents with above-normal BMIs internalized the socially preferred standards of thinness more than respondents with normal or under-normal BMIs. Furthermore, results also revealed, overall, a negative relationship between SATAQ and body image and between body image and BMI. The study highlights the need to emphasize “fitness over thinness” to help improve negative body image among young Asian females.