Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance, Self-Esteem and Symptoms of Body-Dysmorphic Disorders among Young Adults.

Ahmadpanah Ahmadpanah,Jahangard Jahangard,Sadeghi Bahmani Sadeghi Bahmani,Brand Brand,Arji Arji,Haghighi Haghighi

doi:10.3390/ijerph16214236

Abstract

Background: Beauty and an attractive body shape are particularly important during early adulthood, as both are related to greater mating success, positive social feedback, and higher self-esteem. The media may further influence common features of beauty. We tested whether higher body-dysmorphic disorder (BDD) scores were associated with sociocultural attitudes towards appearance. Additionally, we expected that a link between higher BDD scores and higher perceived media pressure would be mediated by lower self-esteem (SE). Method: 350 young Iranian adults (mean age: 24.17 years; 76.9% females) took part in the study. Participants completed questionnaires covering sociodemographic data, sociocultural attitudes towards appearances, and SE, while experts rated participants for symptoms of body dysmorphic disorders. Results: Higher BDD scores were associated with higher scores for sociocultural attitudes towards appearance, while SE was not associated with BDD or sociocultural attitudes towards appearance. Higher scores for sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and media pressure predicted higher BDD scores, while SE had no influence. Conclusion: Among young Iranian adults, sociocultural attitudes towards appearances and BDD scores, as rated by experts’, were related, while SE was not. The shared variance between symptoms of BDD and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance was low, suggesting that other factors such as mating and career concerns together with social feedback might be more important in explaining symptoms of body dysmorphic disorders.

Highlights

From an evolutionary point of view, beauty and an attractive body shape are two markers of physical and psychological health, along with the concept of “good genes” and a healthy immune system [1]
On the basis of one-way ANOVAs, we examined whether gender, marital status, or educational level systematically biased dimensions of body dysmorphic disorders, self-esteem, or sociocultural attitudes towards appearance
Preoccupations with physical appearance and repetitive behavior to cope with physical appearance were associated with internalization of sociocultural attitude towards appearance, pressures to conform to thin body shapes and internalization of an athletic figure

Summary

Introduction

From an evolutionary point of view, beauty and an attractive body shape are two markers of physical and psychological health, along with the concept of “good genes” and a healthy immune system [1]. Kirsch et al [4] offer a neuronal explanation as to why humans want and like symmetric and beautiful faces and bodies It follows, that concepts of beauty should be found in countries such as Iran, even though for cultural and religious reasons, large parts of a female’s body are covered, including scalp hair, which again from an evolutionary point of view is considered a signal of attractiveness and physical health. We tested whether higher body-dysmorphic disorder (BDD) scores were associated with sociocultural attitudes towards appearance. Higher scores for sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and media pressure predicted higher BDD scores, while SE had no influence. Conclusion: Among young Iranian adults, sociocultural attitudes towards appearances and BDD scores, as rated by experts’, were related, while SE was not. The shared variance between symptoms of BDD and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance was low, suggesting that other factors such as mating and career concerns together with social feedback might be more important in explaining symptoms of body dysmorphic disorders

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion