How Body Image Is Formed – Part 1

Your body image is both real and imagined. Do you like what you see when you look in the mirror? Your body image is not dependent upon your size, your muscle development or how many rolls you have around your waist. In fact, it is really not based on what you see in the mirror but rather on what you perceive in your mind’s eye.

Women who have a positive body image have a real perception of what their actual size and shape are, they are also very comfortable with it as well. Each of us are individuals. We cannot look like the most recent top model nor can we imitate the walk of the most popular actress. Much like our shoe size, our shape is individual to our body so is our body shape unique to ourselves.

Psychologists recognize that men and women who have a negative self-image or body image often have a distorted view of their actual shape and size as it compares to others. Women, especially, will feel ashamed or anxious about their bodies that results in altered social situations, such as not going to the pool, or altered eating habits, such as an eating disorder. Men and women who suffer from poor body image can also experience depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and extreme dieting.

Psychologists have found that body image is affected by a complex aggregate of psychological, social, familial, cultural and media factors. There is early research that suggests there may also be a genetic predisposition to individuals who have an altered self-image. This genetic suggestion does not automatically result in an eating disorder, but instead means that under the right circumstances these individuals are more likely to turn to controlling their food and weight as a means of controlling their environment before someone who may not carry that particular genetic marker.

References:

(1) Health Canal: University of Michigan Researchers to Study Student Attitudes on Eating and Body Image

http://www.healthcanal.com/life-style-fitness/32442—researchers-study-student-attitudes-eating-and-body-image.html

(2) University of Virginia Women’s Center: Body Positive

http://womenscenter.virginia.edu/body-positive.php

Resources:

University of California Los Angeles: Body Image

http://www.snac.ucla.edu/documents/BodyImage2010.pdf

Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario: Formation of Body Image

http://www.etfo.ca/Resources/BodyImageProject/Resources/ETFO_Resources/Formation%20of%20Body%20Image%20Stages.pdf