Body image attitude among Chinese college students

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine body image attitude in Chinese college students and related psychological consequences. A silhouette-matching test was administered to 425 college students in mainland China. Self-esteem, negative emotions, subjective well-being, and eating-disorder-related weight-controlling behaviors were also measured. Only 12.9% of the participants were satisfied with their figure and the extent of body image dissatisfaction was comparable for both sexes. The majority of the female participants indicated a preference to be more slender. Their ideal figure was underweight and was far smaller than the most attractive female figure chosen by male participants. For male participants, the proportion wanting a fuller figure was comparable to that wanting a slimmer figure. Among female participants, body image dissatisfaction negatively correlated with self-esteem and subjective well-being, and positively correlated with negative emotions. Drive for thinness correlated with eating-disorder-related weight-controlling behaviors not only for females, but also for males. Body image dissatisfaction, as a diagnostic feature for major subtypes of eating disorders, may signal serious concern among Chinese college students.

Strategies for eating and body change among Brazilian women and men

“…6,7,9,11,[29][30][31][32] but we followed the original proposal, with its seven correlated subscales. 4,8,33 With regard to the correlations between the BIBCI subscales, the majority were significant, corroborating results presented by 34,35 and revealing that this population strongly values the body. Moreover, most of the students presented very low use of strategies for body change.…”

Psychosocial factors mediating the relationship between childhood emotional trauma and internet gaming disorder: a pilot study

“…Furthermore, they are known to predict lack of psychological wellbeing and mental health (Argyle, 2013;Cheng & Furnham, 2002). Previous studies have found that higher depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem, higher loneliness, and elevated social anxiety to be highly associated with both childhood emotional trauma (Finzi-Dottan & Karu, 2006;Heim et al, 2009;Norton & Abbott, 2017;Runyan et al, 2002;Saleh et al, 2017) and body image dissatisfaction (Junne et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2018). Additionally, depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, loneliness, and high social anxiety have frequently been associated with IGD (Andreassen et al, 2016;Bargeron & Hormes, 2017;Beard & Wickham, 2016;Griffiths, Király, Pontes, & Demetrovics, 2015;Laconi et al, 2017;Lemmens, Valkenburg, & Gentile, 2015;Sioni et al, 2017).…”

The thinner the better: Evidence on the internalization of the slimness ideal in Chinese college students

“…The findings may help us understand to what extent Chinese college students internalize the thin ideal. A previous survey in Beijing college students has indicated that 72.8% of women and 46.2% of men wished to have a smaller figure than their current one (Wang et al, ). The prevalence of overweight adults in China has increased from 11.7% in 1991 to 29.2% in 2009 (Gordon‐Larsen, Wang, & Popkin, ).…”

“…While the interpretation of this observation is reasonable, it appears counterintuitive based on today's culture. First, many women with a normal BMI experience body image dissatisfaction (Wang et al, ; Zaccagni, Masotti, Donati, Mazzoni, & Gualdi‐Russo, ). Second, it seems that only women who are underweight are satisfied with their body shape (Kantanista, Król‐Zielińska, Borowiec, & Osiński, ; Neighbors & Sobal, ).…”

“…Second, it seems that only women who are underweight are satisfied with their body shape (Kantanista, Król‐Zielińska, Borowiec, & Osiński, ; Neighbors & Sobal, ). Third, many women strive for a low BMI that is unhealthy (MacNeill & Best, ; Wang et al, ).…”