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Assessing the Role of Body Image Coping Strategies as Mediators or Moderators of the Links Between Self-Objectification, Body Shame, and Well-Being

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Abstract

We examined self-objectification in relation to well-being, and the potential moderating versus mediating role of body image coping strategies (appearance fixing, avoidance, positive rational acceptance). Undergraduate women from southern Ontario, Canada (Sample 1, n = 104; Sample 2, n = 314) completed measures of depression, disordered eating attitudes, subjective well-being, and body-image coping. Self-objectification was related to greater depression, disordered eating attitudes, and lower subjective well-being. A two-stage mediation model was supported: Body shame and body image coping strategies (appearance fixing and avoidance) partially mediated the associations between self-objectification and outcomes; appearance fixing and avoidance partially mediated the associations between body shame and outcomes. Body image coping strategies did not moderate any of the relations between body shame and outcomes.

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Acknowledgement

We thank SSHRC for their support for Sample 2 which was part of a larger project. We thank Lauren Sanders, Rebekah Willmott, Ravi Gokani, and Diane Tuttle for their help with data collection. A portion of these findings were presented at Annual Meeting of the Canadian Psychology Association in June, 2008.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Becky L. Choma, Claire Shove, Michael A. Busseri, Stanley W. Sadava & Ashley Hosker

  2. Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3C5

    Becky L. Choma

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  1. Becky L. Choma
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Correspondence to Becky L. Choma.

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Choma, B.L., Shove, C., Busseri, M.A. et al. Assessing the Role of Body Image Coping Strategies as Mediators or Moderators of the Links Between Self-Objectification, Body Shame, and Well-Being. Sex Roles 61, 699–713 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9666-9

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