Appearance Related Commentary, Self-Objectification and Psychological Well-being in Young Adults

Abstract

Appearance related comments and self-objectification seem very dominant in media and real life. Appearance related comments and self-objectification definitely influence psychological wellbeing of individuals especially adolescents and Young adults. The present study was designed to study the relationship between appearance-related comments, self-objectification and psychological well-being in young adults. Purposive sampling strategy was used to select a sample of students (N=120) from different colleges and universities of Lahore. A correlational research design with purposive sampling has been used. Physical Appearance Scale i.e., Verbal commentary on physical appearance scale (Herbozo & Thompson, 2006), Self -Objectification Questionnaire (Noll & Fredickson, 1998), and Psychological Well-being Scale (Ryff, 2007) are used as assessment measures. Results of the research indicated that verbal commentary on physical appearance, self-objectification and psychological well-being are significantly related to each other. Self-objectification is a significant predictor of psychological wellbeing in young adults. There are no significant gender differences in verbal commentary on physical appearance, self-objectification and psychological well-being in young adults.