Relationship between Body Dissatisfaction and Body Control Beliefs in Opposit-sex Friend Pressure: Focusing on Chinese International Students in Gwangju Metropolitan City

Abstract

This study attempted to investigate correlations between body dissatisfaction and Body Control Belief, focusing on the sociocultural pressure factor ‘opposite-sex friend pressure’. The goal is to discuss a necessity of recognizing, reviewing and refining ideal beauty embedded in a human society as unconsciousness. Three hypotheses were all supported, and the study results found the followings: First, among sociocultural pressure factors on appearance perceived by Chinese college students in the Republic of Korea, opposite-sex friend pressure had a positive influence on body dissatisfaction with statistical significance. In other words, as they perceive opposite-sex friends’ influence on appearance more, they become more dissatisfied with their body. Second, opposite-sex friend pressure revealed a positive effect on body control belief with statistical significance, which means that as they perceive opposite-sex friends’ influence on appearance more, their body control belief also increases. Third, body dissatisfaction showed a positive influence on body control belief with statistical significance. In other words, opposite-sex friend pressure affects body dissatisfaction and body control belief, and body dissatisfaction also has an effect on body control belief.