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Positive Self/Body Image: What is it?
There are incredible pressures on people, especially women, to buy into the idealized body image promoted by the media and fashion, diet and tobacco industries. Many of us set unrealistic goals for the way our bodies should look; we spend a lot of time worrying about our weight and analyzing what we eat and how much we eat and feeling guilty.
VITALITY challenges the idealized image of bodies as acceptable only if they're thin. It permits, even encourages, people to accept that healthy bodies come in a range of weights, shapes and sizes. It tells us we should appreciate our own uniqueness, including our strengths and abilities. It tells us to relax a little and enjoy life. Finally!
The first VITALITY component, positive self and body image, takes the emphasis away from a preoccupation with weight and negative self and body image. It promotes the fact that healthy, good looking bodies come in a range of shapes and sizes, not just the ones we see on the pages of fashion magazines or television.
The role of the media
The slim ideal is promoted vigorously through the mass media, particularly by the diet, cosmetic and fashion industries. Particularly damaging to body image, and potentially to health, is the implicit message that this ideal can be achieved by anyone willing to work hard enough for it. This is an assertion that not only promotes frustration and guilt but flies in the face of genetic realities.
Slimness in western cultures is associated not only with success and sophistication, but with character virtues. Conversely, obesity is the opposite of all these things and, particularly in the case of women, is associated with failure and a collapse of self-discipline. These messages are picked up early in life. Research, including a 1984 study by Rodin, Silberstein and Striegl-Moore, has found that children view good looking peers as smarter and friendlier, than unattractive peers - and assume them to be happier and more successful. This typecasting affects not only body image but other aspects of self-esteem including, specifically, perception of character. In the western culture, slim is promoted not only as beautiful, healthy and sexy but self-disciplined and good.
Attractive people are perceived to be kind, interesting, outgoing and to have a variety of socially desirable character traits. The unmistakable sub-text of this message is that people who vary from the model are the opposite of all these things. These negative perceptions continue into adulthood. The obese, and particularly females, are not only stigmatized but are psychologically, socially and economically punished. According to one researcher, "fat can be construed as a symbol of power in men but always symbolizes weakness and inferiority in women."
Several studies have documented the role of television, movies, magazines and advertising in setting up these models for emulation. A 1987 paper by Mike Featherstone, puts forward the concept of the "commodified body" promoted for merchandising purposes by the diet, cosmetic, fashion and fitness industries.
Overweight and thin need to be viewed not as opposites but as points on a continuum without value judgments at either end. The researchers recommend that the health and well-being movement work to counteract the "commodified body" message of the cosmetic, diet, fashion and fitness industries, supported by the mass media.
People who are healthy and accept themselves on their own terms are in a stronger position to withstand the message. Canadian health promoters can help them do so by promoting the VITALITY program's approach of healthy eating, active living and a positive body image.
Understanding Self-Concepts
Self-image or self-concept is the most inclusive "self" term. It describes how an individual perceives his or her characteristics and abilities and how an individual evaluates his/herself. Self-image is multifaceted and develops gradually as an individual matures and interacts with significant others.5 Understanding the self begins at a very young age, before language is developed. In adulthood, self-image is largely linked to job or career success and relationships with family and friends. Unemployment and marriage break-up make adults particularly vulnerable to feeling negatively about themselves.
Body image is the picture an individual has of his or her body - what it looks like in the mirror and what he or she thinks it looks like to others. To the extent that body image helps form self-image, dissatisfaction with one's body can have a dramatic effect on how people feel about themselves.
Self-esteem is defined as the evaluative component (i.e., how worthy one feels) and is a part of self-image. While many researchers use the two terms interchangeably, most of the literature related to self concepts and health refers to the self-esteem component. To measure self-esteem, most researchers consider several interrelated parts. One theory suggests that the top level is general or global self-esteem. The other parts are social selfesteem (relationships with parents, peers and intimate others), physical selfesteem (physical ability and physical appearance) and academic self-esteem (reading, math and other intellectual abilities).
N.B. While one's self-image may change throughout life, one's fundamental sense of feeling worthy or unworthy (self-esteem) remains relatively stable. This points to the importance of ensuring nurturing, safe and loving environments for children and adolescents as the primary way to prevent low self-esteem and negative body image.
A Shifting Vision of Beauty
Over the past century different body shapes have been projected by western culture and promoted as standards for fashion and sophistication.
View the Shifting Vision of Beauty chart
| The era |
The look |
| 1890s |
Plump, voluptuous |
| Early 20th century |
Corseted, hour-glass, "Gibson Girl" look |
| 1920s |
Flat-chested, slim-hipped, androgynous with emphasis on heavy use of cosmetics |
| 1930s and 1940s |
Full-bodied, with emphasis on legs |
| 1950s |
Voluptuous and curvaceous |
| 1960s to date |
Thin, uncurvaceous (waif look) |
Unrealistic expectations
A number of studies have shown a rise in the prevalence of body image problems among both men and women. This dissatisfaction is primarily due to an increasingly thin standard of beauty (especially for women) and muscularity (especially for men). Role models on television, on billboards and in fashion magazines are virtually always thin. This focus on thinness and the pressure to lose weight has been linked to an increased incidence of anorexia, bulimia, weight preoccupation and periodic dieting.11 Body image problems are affecting people at a younger age than ever before. One study found that half of young women aged 14 to 18 believed they were too fat; approximately 44 percent of them were dieting.12 For women of all ages, body image takes on a disproportionately important role in the determination of self-esteem. When unrealistic goals are not met, feelings of failure contribute to further drops in selfesteem and an increase in body image dissatisfaction.
In growing numbers, men are striving to achieve the ideal of the young, lean, muscular body. In the 1980s, men were experiencing more body dissatisfaction, weight preoccupation, and concern with physical attractiveness and body shape than in the two preceding decades. Because of the belief that body size and shape are totally under a person's own control, men and women sometimes enter diet and exercise programs with unrealistic expectations. Attempting to bridge the gap between expectations and reality may have psychological and physical costs such as feelings of shame, failure and deprivation, yo-yo dieting and, in men, the use of hormones and steroids.
The high cost of low self-esteem
Self-esteem is the foundation of psychological well-being. Anxiety disorders, depression and suicide are strongly associated with low self-esteem. Studies link low self-esteem with disturbed body image, dropping out of physical activity, eating disorders, substance abuse, abusive relationships and interpersonal problems.18 It is important, however, to recognize that social and living conditions such as poverty, abuse, inequity and racism contribute to these problems, and that low self-esteem in itself is not the cause.
Distinguishing features that characterize individuals who possess high or low self-esteem (self-image) have been proposed. Individuals with high selfesteem characteristically:
- perceive themselves in a positive way and appreciate their own abilities, potential and limitations;
- present themselves with confidence and tend to deal with demands and stress in an assertive and effective way;
- perceive that they are loved and respected by significant others.
Individuals with low self-esteem generally:
are more passive and dependent in reacting to stress and demands, and are more likely to conform to social pressures;
are pessimistic about their abilities and tend to be shy, depressed and anxious about the future;
tend to experience difficulties in relationships and rarely assume positions of leadership.
Picking up social cues
Health and well-being are linked to self-esteem and a positive body image. People who feel good about themselves and their bodies tend to lead more physically active lives, follow a pattern of healthy eating and are less likely to be smokers. Recent studies have demonstrated that people's self-esteem and body image are influenced by social interaction through two processes: "reflected appraisal" and social comparison.
Reflected appraisal
"Reflected appraisal" refers to a theory which goes back to the turn of the century. It suggests that we see ourselves as others see us, or as we think they do, using a sort of psychological radar to pick up perceived reactions. "Perceived" is the operative word because research has demonstrated that a person's reading of others' opinion is conditioned by selfevaluation and may not necessarily be accurate.
Furthermore, some studies show gender differences in these perceptions, with females tending to attach more importance to their physical appearance than males. Both sexes use weight and bodyshape as the main criteria for physical attractiveness. However, as one study puts it, "whereas men primarily view their bodies ... as tools that need to be in shape and ready for use, women primarily see their bodies as commodities, their physical appearance serving as an interpersonal currency."
The research also suggests that the extent to which this perception of external appraisal shapes our judgment of ourselves, depends on the importance to us of the people providing it. Particularly influential are the reactions of "significant others," people whose opinions make a difference to us.
The cast changes with time. One study in the review for VITALITY20 indicated that among fifth and sixth graders, parents and siblings are the most important influences. For seventh and eighth grade students, friends are the most significant others. Among first-year university students, parents, friends and teachers are important influences.
Social comparison
The other shaper of body image is social comparison, people rating themselves in relation to others, with points awarded for similarities and points forfeited for differences. This assessment is based on standards set by the popular culture. In many societies, physical attractiveness is defined to a significant extent by the shape and size of the body. But the specifications vary. In less developed countries where food is at a premium, the robust look is considered attractive for both sexes and all ages because it epitomizes status and wealth. In more affluent countries, including Canada, the currently prevailing beauty ideal is slim. The corresponding male ideal is the muscular mesomorph.
It has not always been that way. In the 1890s, the feminine ideal was plump and women worried about being too thin. This model was supplanted, early in the century, by the corseted, hour-glass ideal and, later by the flat-chested androgynous look - which women of the 1920s sought to achieve through starvation diets and strenuous exercise. The depression years saw the return to a body ideal which emphasized hips and bosom. Since Twiggy in the 1960s, the prevailing ideal in the west has been slim.
Supporting research
The impact of these models on attitudes has been confirmed by research. For example, in a 1985 study, reported in The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, researchers showed American college students drawings of figures ranging from very fat to very thin and asked them to pick the ideal. Overwhelmingly, females chose the thinner figures and males the larger ones. A survey of Australian students produced similar results.
Other studies focusing on body image distortion indicate that females tend to believe they are heavier than they are and want to lose weight. An evidence has built up in the research associating distorted body images in women with unhealthy dietary practices and with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
Worry about weight is common to both sexes but is particularly pronounced among middleclass women; and it extends across all age groups. Results of a 1992 study show that girls as young as nine years of age had distorted body images and worried about their weight.
The male ideal, in western culture, is the muscular mesomorphic body. Males (including overweight ones) tend to think they are thinner than they are and want to gain weight. In general, men show less dissatisfaction with their bodies than women. But the use of steroids, by some adolescents, to build muscular bodies, suggests that they too may be suffering the health effects of negative body image.
The research is mixed on the issue of differences by ethnic and socioeconomic groups. A study of British women of Afro-Caribbean, Caucasian and Asian descent found that women in all these groups were concerned about body weight and shape. On the other hand there were significant differences in actual and preferred body weights among white and black American women. Black women who reported "no problem" with weight, tended to be either of average weight or overweight. White women who made the same self-diagnosis, tended to be thin.
Research is more complete on differences between socioeconomic groups. Overweight is more common among people with lower incomes, underweight is more common at the other end of the scale. A 1990 study of adolescent concerns about weight and eating found that girls from high schools in relatively affluent areas tended to be thinner than girls from schools in poorer districts. They were nevertheless more worried about weight.The incidence of anorexia nervosa appears to be highest among white, middle-class to upper-class families.
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