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A socio-cultural risk perspective on distorted diets
Published in Charlotte Fabiansson, Stefan Fabiansson, Food and the Risk Society, 2016
Charlotte Fabiansson, Stefan Fabiansson
Idiosyncratic body image perception is an additional contributing aspect of this issue. People might think they are overweight when they are not, as body image is very subjective. Sullivan and Brown (2013), in their study of perception of healthy weight in the United Kingdom, found that 32 per cent of females and 15 per cent of males of normal weight, thought that they were overweight. More than 40 per cent of females who were underweight thought that their weight was about right, and 29 per cent of females of normal weight were dieting to lose weight. Body image is based more on perception than on scientific facts; social and cultural capital, agency, social identity, social media and current social networks are all factors that influence an individual’s body image. Personal perception of weight does not necessarily reflect the scientific definition, but has more to do with how people perceive themselves when looking in the mirror. Poor body image can be linked to low self-esteem, deprived social identity and individual interpretation of the ideal body. Western society’s thin body image contributes to dieting, overexercising and eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge-eating disorders. The push to be thin can influence a person’s overall wellbeing and mental health status by contributing to depression and anxiety (Mask et al. 2014).
Inside, Outside: Nanobionics and Human Bodily Experience
Published in Kamilla Lein Kjølberg, Fern Wickson, Nano Meets Macro, 2019
A person’s understanding of her self in relation to the world requires her to have a view of her body as both part of what is her, but also part of the world which provides her with the point of contact between self and world. In this way, embodied subjectivity involves both, what Gallagher (2005) terms body image (roughly, a person’s mental image of their body) and body schema (how their body moves through the world). Body image, then, involves the person’s perceptual experience of her body; her conceptual understanding of the body in general; and her emotional attitude towards her body (Gallagher 2005, p. 25). It is, in short, how she sees her body. Body schema, on the other hand, does not involve perceptions or beliefs; it is a system of sensory-motor capacities that function without awareness or the necessity of perceptual monitoring (Gallagher 2005, p. 26). Human cognition or understanding of bodily experience relies on a scaffold of meaning-making experiences and responses that have developed through experience of bodily perception and the world. Knowledge comes from the engagement of the body in purposeful movement in the world and reflective experience. As such, phenomenologists view human being as inherently involving striving to make sense of our selves and the world around us through our bodily engagement with the world. Therefore, changing our sensory perception of the world or disruptions in the relationships among our experience, perception and shared conceptualisations of significant features of the world may change not only what we know but also how we make sense of the world and ourselves.
Body image of male college athletes: the role of uniforms and socio-cultural ideals on the perceptions of body image
Published in International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 2022
Kristian Hogans, Yoo-Kyoung Seock
Body image is a concept about oneself that is formed by sensory and social environments (Quick, 2014). Male athletes are subject to pressures in the sports environment (e.g. social relationships, performance, uniforms), which result in the desire to change their body weight, shape, and size (Galli & Reel, 2009). Traditionally, the male ideal body image has been muscular, influenced by superheroes, the ‘jock’ on television, and celebrities with ‘heroic’ bodies (Jirousek, 1996). The muscular body image is low in fat and high in muscle, and male athletes as well as non-athletes prefer this physique when influenced by their environment (Galli & Reel, 2009). This body image has been the central to the sociocultural model of eating disorders among males (Alhich et al., 2019) and plays an important role in the development of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders (Murray, Griffiths, & Mond, 2016).
The impact of nature exposure on body image and happiness: an experience sampling study
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2022
Stefan Stieger, Isabel Aichinger, Viren Swami
Recently, this body of research has been extended to show that nature exposure is also associated with positive outcomes in terms of body image, a multifaceted construct that includes one’s thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviours that are related to the body (Cash and Pruzinsky 2002; Cash and Smolak 2011). Negative body image, in particular, has been identified as a major public health concern, not only because it affects a majority of individuals in most socioeconomically developed settings (e.g., Wardle et al. 2006; Swami et al. 2010), but also because of deleterious outcomes associated with negative body image. For example, negative body image is one of the most important prognostic factors in the onset and maintenance of eating pathology (e.g., Stice and Shaw 2002) and is also associated with poorer social functioning (e.g., Cash et al. 2004), exercise dependence and the use of performance-enhancing drugs (e.g., White and Halliwell 2010), discomfort with sexual functioning (e.g., Woertman and van den Brink 2012), and poorer psychological well-being (e.g., Swami et al. 2018c). These negative outcomes mean that is important to identify putative factors and situations that may protect against negative body image and promote healthier body image experiences (Tylka and Wood-Barcalow 2015).
How Do You Wish to Appear? An Empirical Study of Factors Affect Intention to Purchase Face-Swap Apps Under Social Comparison Perspective
Published in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2023
Quang-An Ha, Nguyen Quynh Tram Le, Thanh Thien Tho Nguyen, Thi Thanh Trang Pham, Bao Anh Pham, Ngo Que Lam Le
Despite the fact everyone’s body image is heterogeneous and unique, many people still wish their bodies looked different, this phenomenon is known as appearance dissatisfaction (Buote et al., 2011). Negative body image is defined as a distorted perception of shape, which means people perceive parts of their body unlike they really are and also concludes that individuals with appearance dissatisfaction consider themselves unattractive and feel self-conscious and unpleasant in their own bodies (Williamson et al., 2010). On the contrary, those with appearance satisfaction see a real reflection of themselves and are also able to distinguish their self-worth from their body shape because they believe that they can shine not only with their body image but also with their mind and soul, hence, they recognize their body as unique and feel comfortable and confident in their own bodies. The two body dissatisfaction elements are “weight dissatisfaction” and specifically “appearance dissatisfaction” (Veale et al., 2016). Social influences from family, friends, education and living environment and societal pressure can also shape the way somebody sees himself. Appearance dissatisfaction may increase the risk of indulging in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as unscientific dieting, over-exercising and other disordered eating or weight control behaviors (Kim & Lennon, 2007). Quittkat et al. (2019) claimed that women tended to have more appearance dissatisfaction than men because they insisted on perceiving themselves as fatter and more muscular than their bodies actually were. They also tended to compare their bodies to those of different women, they demanded the perfection of their bodies as thinner and thinner as they looked forward.