I (DON'T) LOVE MY BODY: COUNTER-INTUITIVE EFFECTS OF A BODY-AFFIRMING STATEMENT ON COLLEGE WOMEN'S BODY SATISFACTION

Introduction: Messages encouraging women to love their bodies are common elements of positive body image movements, but there are theoretical reasons to suspect that such messages may backfire. Methods: In a sample of 293 college women, we tested the impact of mentally repeating the affirmation “I love my body” on body satisfaction. We prompted participants to think either “I love my body” (affirmation condition) or “I am [age] years old” (control condition) while they completed a five-minute writing task. Results: Relative to the control, the affirmation condition led to significantly lower body satisfaction. Additionally, 53% of affirmation condition participants counterargued the body affirmation by writing something negative about their appearance; only 6% in the control condition wrote a negative appearance comment. Discussion: Results suggest that some messages intended to promote positive body image have the potential to decrease women's body satisfaction, in part because they prompt women to think of flaws in their appearance.

MCNP model of the EEAE ACCUSCAN Whole Body Counter

Monte Carlo simulations and verification measurements for the efficiency calibration of the ACCUSCAN shadow-shield type Whole Body Counter (WBC) of the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (EEAE) are presented. A model of the counter and RMC-II anthropomorphic phantom was developed using the MCNP code. Full energy peak efficiencies for different phantom positions were calculated for 60Co and 137Cs sources. The deviations between computational and experimental efficiencies were found to be less than 12 % for 60Co and 4 % for 137Cs for the Ge detector and less than 25 % for 60Co and 4 % for 137Cs for the NaI detector. This work contributes to the accurate quantification of internal contamination in individuals accidentally exposed in Greece by the Greek Atomic Energy Commission Laboratories and moreover demonstrates the effectiveness of using computational tools for understanding the calibration of radiation detection systems used for in vivo monitoring.