Predicting Body Image Avoidance in Predominantly White College Undergraduates
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Authors
de Wetter, Elizabeth
Sweeting, Elizabeth
Dr. Carl A. Bardi
Issue Date
2021-05-07
Type
Presentation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Scholarship Sewanee 2021 , Psychology , Body Image , Introversion
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine how personality, especially introversion, was related to body image perception in college undergraduates. We hypothesized that higher levels of introversion, specifically anxious introversion, would be related to higher levels of body image avoidance. Participants included 109 undergraduates at a small private liberal arts institution. The sample was 78% female, with a mean age of 19.83 years, (SD = 1.18). The Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire (BIAQ) was used to measure body image perception (Rosen, Srebnik, Saltzberg, & Wendt, 1991). Introversion was measured with the Scales for Four Domains of Introversion: Social, Thinking, Anxious, and Restrained Introversion (STAR; Cheek, 2014). Hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine the presence and nature of any relationship between body image and introversion. Higher levels of anxious introversion (as measured by STAR-A) were indeed correlated with higher scores of body image avoidance. BMI was associated with body image avoidance of the exposure type (BIAQ-E). However, BIAQ-E was found to be
mediated by anxious introversion. It appears that the characteristics we ordinarily associate with body image disturbance like body image avoidance may be partly or wholly explained by anxious introversion.
Description
Citation
Publisher
University of the South