The Role of Self-Silencing and Appearance Investment in Heterosexually Experienced Women’s Body Dissatisfaction

Abstract

Traditional socialization can lead to negative individual and relational outcomes for women including self-silencing and body dissatisfaction. We explored the relationship between these phenomena, particularly whether problematic appearance investment was an explanatory mechanism for body dissatisfaction within a context of self-silencing. Women students (N=116) aged 18-24 completed online surveys. More engagement in all domains of self-silencing was associated with higher body dissatisfaction. Problematic appearance investment mediated three of the four domains (externalized self-perception, care as self-sacrifice, divided self) with the other, silencing the self, directly associated with body dissatisfaction. When young women engaged in more relational self-silencing, they focused on their appearance as more integral to their identity, which predicted higher body dissatisfaction. These findings, based on women without eating disorder diagnoses, demonstrate one specific danger of relational self-silencing for women’s well-being. Encouraging self-affirmation may be a promising strategy to undermine these effects for women who engage in self-silencing.