Positive Body Image
Positive Body image refers to love and acceptance of ones body and appreciation of its uniqueness& the function it performs
Chracteristics of positive BI
-increased age
-culture
-gender
-sexualty
-gender roes
- BMI
-social economic status
-positivity
-religion
-Body appreciation
+Body acceptance & love
+adapive appereance Investment
self-compassion
+broader internalization of beauty
+expecting unconditional acceptance by others
+media lietrate
+surroundig yourself with others that have positive BI
A positive body Image is defined as
- Appreciate the unique beauty of their body and the functions that it performs for them
- Accept and even admire their body, including those aspects that are inconsistent with idealized images
- Feel beautiful, comfortable, confident and happy with their body
- Emphasize their bodies advantages rather than dwell on their imperfections
- Interpret incoming information in a body-protective manner whereby most positive information is internalizes and most negative information is rejected or reframed. To know about the manipulations and pressures of media, western culture, … put on women to be thin helps to block out images and messages that could endanger your positive BI.
- Unconditional acceptance from others: knowing that you’re loved, special and valued by others no matter how you look but for being who you are.
- Spirituality/Religion: some believe that a higher power designed them to be special and wanted them to accept their body
- Finding others who are accepting of themselves: making conscious choices to surround yourself with others who have a positive body image, which makes it easier to have a positive BI
- Taking care of the body via health behaviours: if a woman is eating in a healthy way (initiative eating), doing a healthy amount of sport, … she feels stronger then her body image falls into place and she naturally feels good. Listen to your body and make healthy rather than appearance-based decisions.
- Inner positivity influencing outer appearance: if you feel beautiful on the inside, you will project it to the outside as well.
- Broadly conceptualizing beauty: have respect, appreciation and tolerance for the diversity of weights and shapes
- self-care behaviours (yoga, meditation, etc.) are an outcome of positive body image.
- self-compassion is associated with fewer depressive symptoms and higher self-esteem and is therefore a result of higher body appreciation and a positive body image.
- Men with a positive body image are not doing sports for muscularity but for physical health and enjoyment
tanning behaviour: individuals with higher positive body image may have greater intentions to protect their skin from UV exposure and damage
Distinction from negative Bi
+They are not the same concept
+having high positive Bi does not men you have an low negative BI
+positive BI has an effect on health regardless of negative Bi
+concept can co-exist
+one can be satisfied with some parts and satisfied with others
+ in a study test for both variables was significant,if they wren part of one construct only one could be significant
=> To have a positive BI you should not only suppress negative thought but also emphasize positive ones
positive vs. negative BI
compared to negatib BI , positive BI have \+more self-esteemm \+optismism \+content with their appereamce \+less emotional distress \+more quality in life
Positive BI is
- a different construct from negative BI
- Multifaced- can not be measured, includes many different facets (body-appreciation, body-acceptance,..)
- Holistic-canonly be seen as whole picture , several factors interpreted together
- Fluid
- Stable and stretchable- bad days , can be manipulated trough therapy
- Protective- of physical health & psychological well-being, linked to healthy activities and self-care, protects from influence by media
- Linked to body-appreciation by others & less pre-occupied with ones looks
- Shaped by social identity
Holistic Body Image model
Reciprocity
Filtering
Fluidity
Correlates
- body appreciation: appreciating the function, features and health of the body as well as its appearance and shape
- body acceptance: accepting your own body, its size and shape
- body image flexibility: acceptance of all kinds of body shapes and sizes
- functional body orientation: focus on health rather than appearance
- functional body satisfaction: being happy with what one’s body can do
- body acceptance and love: expressing love for and comfort with the body, even if not completely satisfied with all aspects
- broadly conceptualizing beauty: perception that a wide range of appearances can be beautiful, also focused on inner values rather than external values.
- Adaptive appearance investment: regularly investing time in appearance-related self-care (= enhancing one’s natural features, i.e. getting manicures, engaging in healthy eating, exercise, … as acts of kindness to one’s body). This can be divided into self-evaluative salience (= connection of appearance to self-worth) and motivational salience (= engagements to feel attractive). Higher levels of self-evaluative salience are associated with negative body images.
- Inner positivity: connection between positive body image, positive feelings (i.e. optimism, happiness, …) and adaptive behaviours (i.e. self-care, helping others, …). Women with a positive BI have a higher inner positivity in general and spread that positive attitude.
- Filtering information in a body-positive manner: accepting information that promotes one’s positive BI while rejecting messages that endanger it.
- Less social comparison
Positive Body Image & Age
positive body image increases ( people accept their body for functionality)
while negative stays
=> proof that they are 2 different concepts
positive Bi results from appreciation of ones body and can results from events like child birth
proves that positive BI can really only be achieved with shift in ones thinking
Gender
in general body appreciation is higher for men then women
Mn have a broader understanding of body ideals and also their body are more valued for things like strength & competence
Sexuality
gay men have greater body dissatisfaction & lower levels of positive bI
maybe because they live within a more appereace focused culture with high sexual objectification
Lesbian results don’t differ from heterosexuals; wich is odd cause one could think they don’t want to impress man, seems like the thin ideal is deeply intetreged in women from the beginning
Feminist have better body size acceptance even if they do not differ in body dissatisfaction
Culture 6 ethnicity
ethnic minority women do not internally western beauty standards as much
Black womwn have greater acceptance for their body
Acceptance model
women who perceive a higher level of social support and body acceptance by others will be able to resist adopting an observer’s perspective of their bodies which will predict greater acceptance and appreciation of their body.
Those with a positive body image can be affected by others but most importantly can also have a positive impact on others, whose body image can still be improved.
religion
spirituality is created with higher body acceptance because it is seen a s good given
Body image flexibility
Body image flexibility
Body-image flexibility (= aspect of positive BI derived from Buddhism), entails a willingness to accept and experience perceptions, sensations, feelings, thoughts, … about one’s body without attempting to change them. (i.e. a woman that is criticized towards her body would be aware of the negative emotions that rise but would also know that others feel the same way and would then engage in self-care rather than self-hatred
BMI
the greater Bei the lower body appreciation => due to weight bias
EMBODIMENT
Sense of ownership of the body and treating your body with respect. Embodying activities emphasize the function of one’s body and include sports or disciplines like yoga, dancing, …
college women athletes: feel more pride about their body but also struggle to stay feminine , positive Bi
Dancers: ballet = negative Bi
street dance, modern dance, belly dance => higher body appreciation
Belly dancers especially lower self objectification
special populations
Models => high dive fr thinness and dysfunctional
physical disfigurement=> objective severity of disfigurement does not predict stress, the family environment is crucial for restoring of body image
especially parents acceptance or discomfort influences
Improve Body Image
- PROTECTIVE FILTERING: Ability of body appreciation to block out negative body-related information while filtering through the positive information. e.g., appearance-related comments, fat talk and exercising in objectifying environments are no longer considered as important and are not internalized.
MEDIA LITERACY: strategy that teaches you how media is influencing you, allows critical evaluation, makes them aware of photoshop … - INTUITIVE EATING: eat whenever you feel hungry and stop eating when you feel satiated.
- EMBRACE BROAD DEFINITION OF BEAUTY: accept and appreciate all different sizes and shapes of bodies.
- SURROUND WITH POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT: surround yourself with others that have a positive body image and engage in positive body-related talk rather than the opposite. The people that appreciate you because of who you are and not because of how you look like are the best!
- MEDITATION, YOGA, AND RELIGION: engaging in these embodying behaviours or in the belief that the body is a gift from a greater power may help to appreciate it more.
- LIKE AND APPRECIATE YOUR OWN BODY AND TAKE CARE OF IT: teaching self-compassion through meditation, student affairs programs, fraternity and sorority programs, coursework or other intervention programs
- MEDICAL CARE & SELF-COMPASSION
- AVOID FAT TALK AND NEGATIVE BODY-RELATED TALK
- EMBODYING ACTIVITIES: activities where one improves the relationship with his/her own body, like for example yoga, help to appreciate the bodies functionality rather than its appearance.
- RECIPROCITY: women with higher body appreciation might be more inclined to use strategies to protect against media-related appearance information, and use of such strategies likely strengthens body appreciation by reinforcing acceptance of one’s own body
SHIFT IN COGNITIVE THINKING: thinking about how models in advertisements no accurate representations of all women in our society are and thinking about how it is the model’s job to look the way she doe
Media and positive Body image
+self compassion quotes proven to be useful
+social medias influence will always be there so we have to learn how to deal with it
+Interventions concerning social media
=> endless source if social comparison
=> one relates more to individuals => more dangerous
+ positive effect trough support
+Positive movement is like exposure therapy
body appreciation
- appreciating the function, features and health of the body as well as its appearance and shape
body acceptance
accepting your own body, its size and shape
body image flexibility
acceptance of all kinds of body shapes and sizes
functional body orientation
- focus on health rather than appearance
