Body Dissatisfaction and Sociocultural Impact in Hispanic and Latino Adolescents

Abstract

The relevance of body dissatisfaction in today’s culture makes it a topic of great notability, especially when it comes to the development and identity of adolescents. Previous research has studied the elements that determine the societal bodily ideal and what personal factors affect self-perception after exposure to the former. The literature fails to examine these elements within a majorly Hispanic and Latino population, also excluding the moderating effect of social media and self-concept clarity. The study at hand used 227 respondents, where 58.6% identified as female, 37.8% as male, 1.8% as non-binary, and 1.3% as other; participants identified as 46% South American, 30% Caribbean, 16% European (Spaniard), and 8% Central American. Five quantitative scales were used: Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire - 4, the Figure Rating Scale, Physical Appearance Comparison Scales, Self-Concept Clarity (SCC) Scale, and Social Networking Sites (SNS) lifestyle questions adapted from Burnette et al., 2017. Results reflected moderate body dissatisfaction (BD) and sociocultural influences within Hispanic and Latino adolescents, highlighting self-concept and comparisons, and hypotheses concerning social media use’s effect on body dissatisfaction. Discoveries were also made concerning specific mediating factors, their correlational value, and the importance of distinguishing between adolescent age groups. The data aids in expanding the limited knowledge of body dissatisfaction within Hispanics and Latinos and encourages further investigation, highlighting the importance of self-concept in relation to body image, especially in adolescents. This new knowledge could be utilized in the medical and psychiatric fields in the treatment of body dissatisfaction and further eating disturbances.