Significance Of Appearance Research Articles

“A balancing act”: parents’ longitudinal perspectives of weight-related discussions with their children following obesity treatment

Weight-related discussions during childhood may have long-lasting effects on children’s body image and well-being. However, little is known about how parents frame these discussions with children who have undergone treatment for obesity. Our study aimed to explore how parents perceive weight-related discussions, several years after their children started obesity treatment. This qualitative study is part of the 4-year follow-up of the More and Less study, a randomized controlled trial examining the effectiveness of a parental support program as part of obesity treatment for preschool-aged children in Stockholm, Sweden. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 parents (79% mothers, 48% with a university degree, 47% with foreign background) of 33 children (mean age 9.3 years (SD 0.7), 46% girls), transcribed and analyzed using realist informed thematic analysis. Three main themes, encompassing three subthemes were developed. Under the first theme, Parental attitudes and concerns, parents emphasized the importance of discussing weight and health behaviors with their children, yet found it challenging due to uncertainties about how to approach it safely and sensitively. A few parents found the conversation manageable, citing their own experiences of having overweight or their style of communication with the child as facilitating the conversation. Under the second theme, The significance of time and context, parents said they engaged in weight-related conversations with their children more frequently as the children matured, driven by their growing self-awareness. Parents also expressed how contextual factors, such as gender and the presence of others, shaped conversations. Parents perceived boys as more resilient, thus exposing them to more negative weight talk. The third theme, Navigating weight stigma, revealed how parents employed strategies such as nurturing their children’s self-confidence, downplaying the significance of appearance and emphasizing health when discussing weight to shield their children from weight stigma. Taken together, we found that many parents need support to navigate weight-related discussions. Addressing weight stigma is part of children’s obesity management process, as children may be bullied, teased, or experience discrimination in different social settings. More research is needed to explore how young children undergoing obesity treatment experience weight stigma and to understand gendered differences in these experiences.

Социально-психологические предикторы воспринимаемого возраста как прогностического маркера старения и риска смерти

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objective. </strong>The study of socio-psychological predictors of the perceived age of adults aged 35 to 75 years.<br><strong>Background. </strong>The relevance of the work is determined by the interdisciplinary status of the phenomenon of perceived age (the phenomenon of social cognition and the result of the influence of numerous factors associated with predicting the risk of death) in modern science and the need to determine the influence of socio-psychological factors on the perceived age of a person at the stage of "maturity" and "old age". <br><strong>Study design. </strong>Photographs of perceptual objects previously tested using a block of techniques were shown to perceptual subjects ("evaluators") to assess their age, the arithmetic mean of the estimates corresponded to the perceived age of the study participants. Next, a list of possible predictors was compiled, to which multiple regression analysis (step-by-step method) was applied. <br><strong>Participants. </strong>523 people (207 men and 316 women) aged 35 to 75 years took part in the study as objects of perception; 140 people acted as subjects of perception ("evaluators") in various rounds of presenting photographs to assess the age of objects of perception. The sample was divided into subgroups of "mature" (age 35-59 years, 368 people, 142 men and 226 women, M = 49 years) and "elderly" (age 60-75 years, 155 people, 65 men and 90 women, M = 65 years). <br><strong>Measurements. </strong>The procedure of "Photovideopresentation of appearance" by T.A. Vorontsova; the questionnaire "Self-assessment of age" by T.A. Vorontsova; a set of techniques developed by V.A. Labunskaya for the diagnosis of attitude to one's appearance. <br><strong>Results. </strong>The paper identifies socio-psychological predictors of a person's perceived age at the age stages of "maturity" and "old age": subjective age, the importance of appearance, integral assessment of appearance, assessment of appearance by the mother, the need to look younger than their years, economic status. Regression models were compiled separately on male/female subsamples, as well as adults aged 35-59 and 60-75 years. It was found that the regression model built on the data of elderly study participants (from 60 to 75 years old), which included a combination of predictors "significance of appearance", "satisfaction with appearance" and "planned life expectancy", has the greatest predictive value. It is also shown that the behavioral component of the attitude to one's appearance (the severity of appearance-perfectionism) does not affect the indicator of the difference between chronological and perceived age ("saved years").<br><strong>Conclusions. </strong>The combination of socio-psychological predictors of perceived age varies depending on gender and age stage of life. Universal and gender-specific predictors of perceived age have been identified. The universal predictor, regardless of gender and age stage of life, is the importance of appearance.</p>

미용종사자의 외적이미지를 위한 소비행동이 심리적 부담감과 직무스트레스에 미치는 영향

As standards for an outer personal image in a modern society keep rising, people have been active in seeking a way to improve their outer personal images. In fact, they have made great efforts for their appearance management, spending a lot of time and money. With such increase of interest in outer personal images, people have searched information with a higher knowledge level. To provide high beauty services, beauty workers have learned new skills and promoted marketing which can draw attention from customers. In already saturated beauty service industry, cosmetologists’ skills and marketing don’t matter much. Therefore, it is important to enhance their outer personal images and help them have strategic personal images. In other words, they might be required to get training or knowledge to enhance their outer personal images with a goal of attracting customers. In addition, some efforts made to satisfy outer personal images according to social standards and consumption behavior needed to improve such outer personal images could pass on psychological burden to beauty workers.
 This study aimed to unveil the influence of consumption behavior implemented by beauty workers for their outer personal images on psychological burden and job stress. It is anticipated that there would be further studies on the systems and ways to reduce the significance of appearance by preventing such consumption behavior implemented for outer personal images from having an influence on psychological burden and job stress.

Attachment Styles in Close Relationships and Their Impact on Attitudes Toward Appearance

The solution to the problem of “appearance (AP) — close, romantic relationships” is carried out, traditionally, in connection with the study of the physical component of AP. On the periphery of attention of researchers remains the consideration of a set of characteristics of the attitude to holistic AP. The aim was to determine the levels of severity of the various characteristics of attitudes to AP and to create a hierarchy of significance of differences depending on the levels of severity of anxiety and avoidance strategies in close relationships. The study involved 136 young people aged 18 to 30 years (Me=23; Mo=23; M=22.75; SD=2.60), 71% women, 28.6% men. Research methods: questionnaire “Experience of close relationships” in the adaptation of T.V. Kazantseva. Scalea “Self-assessment of the generalized type of attachment” (“RQ”) in the adaptation of T.V. Kazantseva; Scales: 1) “significance of AP in romantic relationships”; 2) “assessment of the dependence of the relationship with the romantic partner on the VP”; 3) “assessment of the experiences (awkwardness, stiffness, embarrassment) arising as a result of the presentation of the VP to the romantic partner”; 4) “self-assessment of the attractiveness of the VP for the partner of the opposite sex”. Mathematical procedures: rank transformation of the above variables (levels: low, medium; high); descriptive statistics; Criteria: H Kraskala–Wallis, U Mann–Whitney; Spearman correlation (IBM SPPS Statistic 23.0). Results: the severity of anxiety and avoidance strategies differentiate the levels of severity of various characteristics of the attitude to AP: a high level of anxiety strategy causes a high level of AP significance (U=532.500; p=0.025), high rating of the dependence of a relationship with a romantic partner from AP (U=564.000; p=0.046); a high level of severity of the avoidance strategy leads to a high level of severity of experiences that arise in the situation of presenting one's AP to a romantic partner (U=862.000; p=0.009), reduces the level of self-esteem of the attractiveness of AP for a partner of the opposite sex (U=947.000; p=0.043). Results are important in the development of practice-oriented programs aimed at solving problems in close relationships and reducing their dependence on the attitude to AP.

Features of "relevant" changes in medical students appearance

In a modern democratic society appearance has great importance. This is especially true of the dress code in health care sphere. More recently, changing your appearance by getting tattoos and body modifications has been decried by different generations in the medical community. However, what is significance of appearance of a medical officer during epidemiological instability around the world? The response to this question was given in our study. The objectives of the study are: to interrogate the attitude of medical university students to medical officers with tattoos as well as to identify medical students who are "exposed" to the fashionable trend of tattoos and body modifications. To implement these objectives, the study involved 106 medical students of various levels of degree and faculties of Rostov state medical University. The results of the study showed that the majority of medical students has not resorted to changes in their appearance, although tattoos and body modifications did not avoid the community of medical students

Самооценка, ценность, значимость внешнего облика в студенческой среде и удовлетворенность жизнью

Самооценка, ценность, значимость внешнего облика в студенческой среде и удовлетворенность жизнью

The Effect of Appearance Perception and Satisfaction of Visually Impaired Women by Life-cycle on Appearance Management Behavior

이 연구는 시각장애성인 여성의 생애주기별 외모 인식 및 만족도, 외모관리행동에 차이가 있는지 알아보고, 외모 인식 및 만족도가 외모관리행동에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 파악하는 데 목적을 두었다. 연구를 위해 25세 이상의 시각장애성인 여성 394명의 설문 응답 자료를 분석하였으며, 연구의 주요결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 노년기 시각장애여성은 성인 전기 및 중년기 시각장애여성에 비해 외모의 중요도는 낮게 인식하는 반면, 얼굴에 대한 만족도는 유의미하게 높은 것으로 나타났고, 성인 전기 시각장애여성의 성형 및 전문 관리행동이 노년기 시각장애여성에 비해 유의미하게 높은 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 시각장애여성의 생애주기별 외모 인식 및 만족도가 외모관리행동에 미치는 영향을 분석한 결과, 공통적으로 외모에 대한 관심도가 체형 및 의복 관리, 화장 및 헤어 관리, 성형 및 전문 관리에 정(+)적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 생애주기별로는 성인 전기 시각장애여성의 경우 신체에 대한 만족도가 체형 및 의복 관리에 정(+)적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났고, 중년기 시각장애여성의 경우 얼굴에 대한 만족도가 체형 및 의복 관리와 화장 및 헤어 관리에 정(+)적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며, 노년기 시각장애여성의 경우 얼굴에 대한 만족도가 성형 및 전문 관리에 음(-)적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다.The present study aims to examine the difference of appearance perception, satisfaction and appearance management behavior of visually impaired women by life cycle and further understand the effects of appearance perception and satisfaction on appearance management behavior. Response data collected from survey among 394 visually impaired women with over 25-year-old were analyzed and major findings are shown as follows. First, senior visually impaired women recognized the less significance of appearance than middle-aged visually impaired women; whereas, their appearance satisfaction turned out significantly higher. In addition, plastic surgery and professionally management behavior of visually impaired young adult women were considerably higher than senior visually impaired women. Second, the effects of appearance perception and satisfaction of visually impaired women by life cycle on appearance management behavior revealed that the level of interest in appearance gave positive impacts on body shape and clothes management, cosmetics and hair style management, and plastic surgery and professional management as a common point. In regards to life cycle, body satisfaction of visually impaired young adult women was found to have positive influences over body shape and clothes management. Facial satisfaction of middle-aged visually impaired women showed positive effects on body shape and clothes management as well as cosmetics and hair style management. Facial satisfaction of senior visually impaired women gave negative impacts on plastic surgery and professional management.

A new perspective of hydrothermal circulation beneath ocean ridges: Significance of appearance of huge chloritite bodies in the Oman ophiolite

A new perspective of hydrothermal circulation beneath ocean ridges: Significance of appearance of huge chloritite bodies in the Oman ophiolite

Evaluating implicit attractiveness beliefs in body dysmorphic disorder using the Go/No-go Association Task

Cognitive-behavioral models of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) suggest the disorder is characterized by exaggerated beliefs about the significance of appearance. However, previous studies assessing automatic associations regarding the importance of attractiveness failed to find any differences between individuals with BDD and healthy control participants using the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998). An open question is whether the BDD and control groups indeed implicitly evaluate attractiveness comparably, or whether methodological factors (e.g., the IAT design requirement of a relative comparison category for attractiveness) made it difficult to observe group differences. To address this question, we evaluated explicit and implicit attractiveness beliefs among individuals with BDD (n = 36), individuals with a dermatological condition (n = 36), and psychiatrically healthy control participants (n = 36) using the single target category Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT; Nosek, & Banaji, 2001). Indeed, BDD participants had significantly stronger implicit associations between attractive and important, relative to the other groups, whereas there was no difference between the dermatology and control groups. Further, the GNAT was effective at classifying individuals with BDD above and beyond the prediction offered by an explicit measure of attractiveness beliefs. The GNAT may be a useful tool for assessing implicit associations in clinical populations because it does not require an explicit comparison target category, which is a restriction of many implicit measures.

Virtual moral agency, virtual moral responsibility: on the moral significance of the appearance, perception, and performance of artificial agents

Contemporary technology creates a proliferation of nonhuman artificial entities such as robots and intelligent information systems. Sometimes they are called ‘artificial agents’. But are they agents at all? And if so, should they be considered as moral agents and be held morally responsible? They do things to us in various ways, and what happens can be and has to be discussed in terms of right and wrong, good or bad. But does that make them agents or moral agents? And who is responsible for the consequences of their actions? The designer? The user? The robot? Standard moral theory has difficulties in coping with these questions for several reasons. First, it generally understands agency and responsibility as individual and undistributed. I will not further discuss this issue here. Second, it is tailored to human agency and human responsibility, excluding non-humans. It makes a strong distinction between (humans as) subjects and objects, between humans and animals, between ends (aim, goal) and means (instrument), and sometimes between the moral and the empirical sphere. Moral agency is seen as an exclusive feature of (some) humans. But if non-humans (natural and artificial) have such an influence on the way we lead our lives, it is undesirable and unhelpful to exclude them from moral discourse. In this paper, I explore how we can include artificial agents in our moral discourse, without giving up the ‘folk’ intuition that humans are somehow special with regard to morality, that there is a special relation between humanity and morality—whatever that means. Giving up this view happens if we lower the threshold for moral agency (which I take Foridi and Sanders to do), or if we call artefacts ‘moral’ in virtue of what they do (which I take Verbeek to do in his interpretation of Latour and others) or in virtue of the value we ascribe to them (which I take Magnani to do). I propose an alternative route, which replaces the question about how ‘moral’ non-human agents really are by the question about the moral significance of appearance. Instead of asking about what kind of ‘mind’ or brain states non-humans really have to count as moral agents (approach 1), about what they really do to us (approach 2), or about what value they really have (approach 3), I propose to redirect our attention to the various ways in which non-humans, and in particular robots, appear to us as agents, and how they influence us in virtue of this appearance. Thus, I leave the question regarding the moral status of non-humans open and make room for a study of the moral significance of how humans perceive artificial non-humans such as robots and are influenced by that perception in their interaction with these entities and in their beliefs about these entities. In particular, I argue that humans are justified in ascribing virtual moral agency and moral responsibility to those nonhumans that appear similar to themselves—and to the extent that they appear so—and in acting according to this belief. Thinking about non-humans implies that we reconsider our views about humans. My project in that domain is to shift at least some of our philosophical attention in moral anthropology from what we really are (as opposed to nonhumans) to anthropomorphology: the human form, what we appear to be, and how other beings appear to us given (our projections and recreations of) the human form. I want to make plausible that it is not their intentional state, but their performance that counts morally, and that we can gain M. Coeckelbergh (&) Department of Philosophy, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands e-mail: m.coeckelbergh@utwente.nl

Implicit and Explicit Self-Esteem and Attractiveness Beliefs among Individuals with Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is characterized by a preoccupation about imagined or slight defects in one’s appearance. In the present study, we evaluated explicit and implicit biases among individuals diagnosed with BDD (n = 15), individuals with subclinical BDD symptoms (n = 20), and healthy control participants (n = 20). Specifically, we used the Implicit Association Test [(IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, (1998) Journal of personality and social psychology, 74, 1464] to measure automatic associations related to self-esteem (evaluations of the self vs. others as good vs. bad) and the importance of attractiveness (evaluations of attractiveness vs. kindness as important vs. meaninglessness). Results indicated that, as predicted, BDD participants had significantly lower implicit self-esteem, relative to healthy control participants, and the subclinical BDD participants were intermediate between these groups. Further, lower implicit self-esteem was positively related to each of the other implicit and explicit BDD-relevant indicators, including explicit beliefs about attractiveness. However, no group differences were observed on the implicit importance of attractiveness task. These findings mostly support cognitive-behavioral models of BDD that suggest vulnerable persons exaggerate the significance of appearance for self-evaluation.

Weighing Health: The Moral Burden of Obesity

This article explores how a contemporary fixation with body fat and its containment takes its origins in historical sources. Despite the fact that the thin body has not always been the coveted norm, strong cultural beliefs about the significance of appearance provide a foundation for the preoccupation with calorie-counting, body sculpting, exercise and diets. These practices are based on three important premises. First, in the range of senses, vision ranks highest. What we see is somehow more reliable than what we hear, taste or feel. Second, from this follows the notion that appearance mirrors the “true” inner self, and reflects a supreme order. And finally, food contains and conveys moral value to the person who eats it, a value that may be witnessed in physical appearance. This article briefly reviews how these beliefs have, over many centuries, merged into an aesthetic of health, setting the standards that lead our contemporary society to an over-reliance on weight as an indicator of health.

Detection of telomerase RNA in the plasma of patients with breast cancer, malignant melanoma or thyroid cancer

The crucial step in cellular immortalisation seems to be the activation of telomerase, the enzyme that synthesizes telomere repeat ending sequences. Since the telomerase activity has been detected in almost all types of cancer tissue it has been proposed as new reliable tumor marker. This study was conducted to evaluate the significance of appearance of circulating RNA for telomerase subunits hTR and hTERT in the plasma of cancer patients. Seven healthy volunteers, 25 primary breast cancer patients (stage I-III), 29 patients with advanced malignant melanoma (stage III-IV), and 4 patients with advanced thyroid cancer (stage III-IV) were included in the study. The total RNA was extracted from plasma samples, reverse transcribed to cDNAs, and specific cDNAs for hTR and hTERT were amplified by semi-nested PCR. In healthy volunteers, the control GAPDH was positive in all, hTR was positive in 3 cases, and hTERT was negative in all 7 tested cases. Among 25 breast cancer patients, hTR was positive in 23, and hTERT in 12 patients. Two cases, that were hTR and hTERT negative, were at the same time negative also for GAPDH. Of the 29 patients with malignant melanoma, 24 were positive for hTR, and 17 for hTERT. Again, the 5 patients that were negative for hTR and hTERT, were negative also for the control GAPDH. In all plasma samples from thyroid cancer patients, hTR and hTERT were positive. In conclusion, the RT-PCR followed by semi-nested PCR is a highly sensitive method for detection of circulating RNA in the plasma. Among the telomerase subunits, only hTERT could serve as an unspecific tumor marker in the plasma of cancer patients.

Being, Feeling and Doing: Discourses and Ethnic Self-Definitions among Minority Group Members

In psychology there is a growing research interest in issues of ethnic minority identity and acculturation. In this research the emphasis is on relatively stable or enduring internal dispositions and attitudes. Studies on the way ethnic minorities define and account for their identity are scarce. However, ethnic minority members often have to explain and justify their identity, not only in interactions with dominant group members but also in relation to their own group. The present study examines how Chinese people living in the Netherlands account for their ethnic identity. The focus is on the actual accomplishment and manifestation of ethnic self-definitions in talks with other Chinese. The analysis highlights the different resources the participants use to manage the normative issues and personal responsibilities involved. Accounts were accomplished by stressing the significance of appearance, the importance of early socialization and the (non-)possession of critical attributes. However, these deterministic accounts leave little room for personal agency, and the participants also tried to define an active and constructive role for themselves. It is concluded that discursive psychology can make an important contribution to our understanding of ethnic minority identity.

Parents' Rejection of Their Appearance-Impaired Newborns

ABSTRACT Based on a six-year fieldwork in Israeli hospitals, this paper focuses on the reactions of parents to their appearance-impaired newborn, suggesting that the majority of parents are apt to abandon their child as a result of an external deformity. It is further found that visible impairments, however slight and curable, are likely to cause rejection, while often more medically severe internal problems do not. On the basis of these findings, which are shown to cut across ethnic, economical and educational categories, several possible explanations are considered. It is suggested that in the absence of any other information, the extreme significance of appearance in the case of the newborn may produce, when deviating from the expected body-image, a cognitive dissonance powerful enough so as to result in the stigmatifation of the appearance-impaired child as a “non-person,” and hence lead to his/her rejection. The paper concludes with an outline of practical implications for family psychologists, therapists and the medical professions.

Re-Figuring Marked Bodies on the Borders: Breast Cancer and “Femininity”

The author discusses writings by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Kathleen Martindale, Audre Lorde, and Barbara Rosenblum on their experiences with breast cancer, and explores their articulations of the impact mastectomy has had on their sense of “femininity” in relation to their own identities and body images, and in relation to cultural expectations, and how others perceive them. Their identification of the body as socially produced, and as a site of contestation and multiple struggles, offers a strategic site from which to engage with the violent gender-inflected notion of the “ideal” female body. Themes addressed include: the process of writing embodied experience to make it real, the body's role in the process of identity formation, the culturally constructed significance of appearance to the individual's sense of “femininity,” the value of the female body in a capitalistic society, and heterosexism in society and in the health care system.

Psychosocial adjustment and craniofacial malformations in childhood.

Forty-three children between the ages of 6 and 13 years with congenital facial anomalies underwent psychosocial evaluation prior to surgery. Also evaluated were healthy children matched to the craniofacial subjects by sex, age, intelligence, and economic background. Relative to this comparison group, the craniofacial children were found to have poorer self-concept, greater anxiety at the time of evaluation, and more introversion. Parents of the craniofacial children noted more frequent negative social encounters for their children and more hyperactive behavior at home. Teachers reported more problematic classroom behavior. Examination of these results revealed craniofacial malformations to be associated with psychosocial limitations rather than marked deficits. These children tended to function less well than the comparison children, but with few exceptions, they were not functioning in a psychosocially deviant range. Explanations for the observed circumscribed impact of facial deformity include the use of denial as a coping mechanism, possible diminished significance of appearance for younger children, and the restricted environment experienced by most of the subjects. It can be predicted that time would render these protective influences ineffective, so that adolescent and young adult patients could be at far greater psychosocial risk.

正誤表

正誤表

Clinical significance of appearance of serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase isozyme.

Serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase zymograms were examined by 4--26% polyacrylamide gradient gel slab electrophoresis using sera from 90 patients with various hepatobiliary diseases. The isozyme bands were separated into 13 bands in order from post albumin fraction. Characteristic patterns of the zymograms were obtained in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and cholestasis. Bands I, II and II' may be specifically related to hepatocellular carcinoma. Band I was observed frequently in hepatocellular carcinoma, however it was also occasionally observed in alcoholic liver injury and metastatic liver cancer. Both band II and II' were only observed in hepatocellular carcinoma cases. The origin of band II and/or II' was not clarified but band I might appear through some proteolytic process in hepatoma tissue and also liver affected by alcohol. In cholestatic cases the activity of bands III and IX were prominent. The frequency of band VI decreased according to the severity of jaundice and a negative correlation appeared to exist between bands III and VI. This phenomenon may be partially related to lipid metabolism disorder which is frequently observed in cholestasis. Results of analysis of the frequency of appearance of these bands did not permit differentiation between intra- and extrahepatic cholestasis.