Self-compassion and Body Checking Among Women: the Mediating Role of Stigmatizing Self-perceptions

Abstract

The present study examined self-compassion and fear of self-compassion in relation to body checking behavior, an understudied marker of eating disorder risk. Stigmatizing self-perceptions in the form of self-objectification, body shame, and weight bias internalization were also examined as a collective set of factors that may connect self-compassion to body checking behavior. Undergraduate women (N = 177) recruited from a university participation pool completed the Self-Compassion Scale, the Fear of Self-Compassion Scale, the Weight Bias Internalization Scale—Modified, the Self-Objectification Beliefs and Behaviors Scale, the Phenomenological Body Shame Scale, and the Body Checking Scale in counterbalanced order via an online survey hosted on Qualtrics for course credit. Parallel mediation analyses conducted via PROCESS Model 4 demonstrated a significant indirect effect of self-compassion on body checking through weight bias internalization (ab = − .20; 95% percentile bootstrap confidence interval (PB CI): − .31 to − .11), self-objectification (ab = − .15; 95% PB CI: − .25 to − .08), and body shame (ab = − .16; 95% PB CI: − .28 to − .05). Significant indirect effects of fear of self-compassion on body checking were also demonstrated through weight bias internalization (ab = .18; 95% PB CI: .10 to .26), self-objectification (ab = .13; 95% PB CI: .07 to .21), and body shame (ab = .12; 95% PB CI: .03 to .21). No direct effects of self-compassion were observed. The findings support self-stigma as a psychological bridge that links being self-compassionate to body checking behavior. Low self-compassion and fear of self-compassion may allow stigmatizing self-perceptions to take root and drive more body checking behavior.