Elsevier

Body Image

Volume 1, Issue 3, September 2004, Pages 225-235
Body Image

Body image ups and downs: prediction of intra-individual level and variability of women’s daily body image experiences

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.03.003Get rights and content

Abstract

This investigation assessed body image states in the context of everyday life among 108 college women. Participants initially completed measures of body image traits and eating attitudes and subsequently called an automated telephonic response system twice daily for 6 days to convey current body image experiences on the Body Image States Scale. The research examined the extent to which selected pretest variables predicted the level and variability of body image states. As hypothesized, less favorable body image state levels were associated with lower trait body image satisfaction, more body image dysphoria, more dysfunctional investment in appearance, more disturbed eating attitudes, and the use of less adaptive and more maladaptive body image coping strategies. Also as expected, body image variability was predicted by psychological investment in one’s appearance, disturbed eating attitudes, and appearance-fixing coping strategies. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.

Introduction

Most body image research has regarded body image as stable, trait-level constructs, focusing on persons’ dispositional evaluations or typical experiences. However, a cognitive-behavioral perspective emphasizes the fluidity of body image experiences as contextually embedded states (Cash, 1994, Cash, 2002a, Cash, 2002b; Tiggemann, 2001; Williamson, Stewart, White, & York-Crowe, 2002). According to this viewpoint (Cash, 2002b), particular events can instigate schema-driven cognitive processing about one’s looks, and these processes may engender state body image evaluations and affect, followed by adjustive reactions (e.g., coping). There is a dearth of research on state body image experiences in real-life contexts and an empirical neglect of intra-individual variation in such experiences. The purpose of this study was to examine the day-to-day levels and variability of body image states and to evaluate selected determinants.

The evaluative facet of body image attitudes focuses on the individual’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction with his or her physical appearance, reflecting the evaluative thoughts and beliefs about appearance (Cash, 2002b). Body image evaluation is typically assessed by measures of dissatisfaction–satisfaction with overall appearance or with specific physical characteristics (e.g., body weight or shape) (Thompson & van den Berg, 2002). Women tend to evaluate their bodies more negatively than men (Feingold & Mazzella, 1998; Muth & Cash, 1997). These evaluations may activate strong emotional arousal (e.g., dysphoria) in particular situations (Muth & Cash, 1997). A cognitive aspect of body image includes appearance investment (Cash, 2002b). The Appearance Schemas Inventory (ASI; Cash & Labarge, 1996) and its recent revision (ASI-R; Cash et al., 2004, Cash et al., 2004) assess the cognitive beliefs and assumptions individuals have regarding their body, specifically their appearance schematicity. Research on the ASI and ASI-R has shown that highly invested individuals attentively focus on their appearance and engage in behaviors to maintain or enhance their appearance (Cash, 1994; Cash & Labarge, 1996; Cash et al., 2004, Cash et al., 2004; Muth & Cash, 1997). Appearance schematic persons have greater public self-consciousness, lower self-esteem, a higher degree of social anxiety, and greater eating disturbances (Cash & Labarge, 1996; Cash et al., 2004, Cash et al., 2004). Highly invested individuals are also more susceptible to situational distress about their appearance (Cash, 2002c; Cash, Fleming, Alindogan, Steadman, & Whitehead, 2002; Cash et al., 2004, Cash et al., 2004) and report a greater inpact of body image on quality of life (Cash et al., 2004, Cash et al., 2004), which could impact their body image stability in everyday life.

Individuals may experience discrete emotions in particular contexts that call self-attention to their physical appearance—for example, certain social or body-exposing situations, looking in a mirror, or viewing media that emphasize cultural appearance standards (Cash, 2002a, Cash, 2002b, Cash, 2002c, Tiggemann, 2001). These emotional states, such as anxiety, shame, or self-consciousness, constitute body image affect, which may vary from person to person and situation to situation. Body image research has traditionally focused on stable, trait-like characteristics, and a few researchers have investigated body image states (Cash, 2002a). Most of these studies measure states in laboratory experimental designs, such as in studies of the effects of exposure to thin-and-beautiful media ideals (Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002; Tiggemann, 2002).

Little empirical attention has been directed toward the assessment of body image states in everyday life. Franzoi, Kessenich, and Sugrue (1989) designed a study to elucidate such experiences. Participants were provided an electronic timing device that was preset to randomly emit an audible tone. When they heard the tone they were to complete a questionnaire about what they had been doing in the last few minutes and to indicate their body awareness at that time. Franzoi et al. (1989) found that when women were attentive to their bodies they experienced more negative affect than did men. Also, women were more likely than men to focus on specific body parts/functions rather than on their bodies as a whole.

Amorose (2001) conducted a study pertinent to state body image stability. He defined “intra-individual variability” (IIV) as the degree to which individuals show short-term fluctuations in their evaluation of and affect toward their abilities and attributes, including their global and physical self-evaluations. Data were collected during seven sessions over a 3-week period. In the first session, data were gathered on typical (trait-like) self-evaluations. The next four sessions entailed assessments of how participants currently felt about themselves. The final two sessions included measures of physical activity motivation and background information. Results indicated some IIV in most students’ global and physical self-evaluations, and participants with more negative trait self-evaluations experienced more short-term fluctuations. IIV was slightly greater in global self-worth than in self-evaluations of physical competence.

Tiggemann (2001) also investigated the impact of situational factors on women’s body image experiences. Participants were asked to imagine themselves in four scenarios: (a) being at the beach (body-focused and social); (b) being in a dressing room (body-focused but nonsocial); (c) eating in the cafeteria (non-body-focused but social); (d) being at home (non-body-focused and not social). Subsequent to each scenario, participants reported their overall body satisfaction and satisfaction with particular body areas. Results revealed that women’s perceptions of and satisfaction with their bodies varied depending on which scenario they imagined. However, there still was a consistent level of body esteem across the different situations, suggesting that body image includes both dispositional and situational aspects.

The Body Image States Scale (BISS; Cash et al., 2002) was constructed to assess the momentary evaluative and affective aspects of body image. The six-item BISS measures current body image experiences: (1) overall physical appearance dissatisfaction/satisfaction; (2) body size and shape dissatisfaction/satisfaction; (3) weight dissatisfaction/satisfaction; (4) feelings of physical unattractiveness/attractiveness; (5) feelings about one’s looks compared to how one usually feels; (6) appearance evaluation compared to how the average person looks. The initial validation study on the BISS showed that individuals with greater trait body image dissatisfaction, greater overweight preoccupation, and more dysfunctional appearance investment also had less favorable body image states. Across contexts, body image states were less favorable among women. The researchers also manipulated four imagined scenarios similar to Tiggemann (2001). Two scenarios were positive and two were negative. Although body image states were less favorable in the imagined negative versus positive scenarios for both genders, women’s responses to negative contexts were stronger than men’s responses were.

Body image coping mechanisms refer to strategies that persons use to manage their thoughts and feelings associated with threats or challenges to their body image. Cash, Santos, and Williams (in press) identified three such coping strategies—avoidance, appearance fixing, and positive rational acceptance. Avoidant strategies are attempts to avoid or deny the threat or one’s emotional reactions. Appearance fixing strategies involve attempts to alter or conceal that aspect of one’s appearance experienced as distressing. Positive rational acceptance is the most adaptive coping strategy, whereby individuals engage in constructive self-talk to accept their appearance and emotions. Individuals with maladaptive coping strategies (avoidance and appearance fixing) would be expected to be more affected by threats to their body image, thus causing their body image states to be more variable. Individuals who use positive rational acceptance should not experience as much distress when their body image is threatened, resulting in a more constant or stable body image experience (Cash, 2002b).

This study was modeled after investigations of self-esteem stability conducted by Kernis and his colleagues. They defined self-esteem stability (or instability) as short-term variations that individuals experience in their immediate, situationally based feelings of self-worth (Greenier et al., 1999; Kernis, Greenier, Herlocker, Whisenhunt, & Abend, 1997; Kernis et al., 1998; Paradise & Kernis, 2002). The researchers measured self-esteem twice daily over a period of a week, using a modified version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Self-esteem stability was then computed as the standard deviation of each participant’s scores across occasions, with higher standard deviations reflecting greater response variability and more unstable self-esteem (Greenier et al., 1999, Kernis et al., 1997, Kernis et al., 1998; Paradise & Kernis, 2002). Individuals who experienced greater fluctuation in their perceived social acceptance and in their day-to-day competence had greater overall self-esteem instability. Also, unstable self-esteem was associated with more variability in individuals’ specific self-evaluations and with the importance placed on these self-evaluations as an appraisal of their overall self-worth (Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993). More stable self-esteem was associated with increased feelings of self-worth and increased pleasure from a good performance (Kernis et al., 1997); with less depressive symptoms experienced when confronted with overwhelming daily hassles (Kernis et al., 1998); with less responsiveness to daily positive and negative events (Greenier et al., 1999); and with greater independence, purpose in life, self-acceptance, and more positive relations with others (Paradise & Kernis, 2002). These studies collectively confirm the utility of sampling momentary self-evaluative states to study their average level and their stability.

Data for the current study were collected in three phases. Phase 1 entailed the collection of predictor variables. Phase 2 utilized a data collection technique known as Interactive Voice Response (IVR; Janda, Janda, & Tedford, 2001), which allows participants to complete survey research by calling into an automated telephonic system. Responses are entered into a computer database, along with the date/time the call occurred. This methodology has clear advantages over the use of questionnaires supposedly completed at particular times but handed in later. In Phase 3, participants completed a Post-Study Questionnaire to convey their experiences of the study.

The main question this study attempted to answer was whether selected trait measures of body image and an eating-attitudes measure are reliable predictors of body image states, both the average state levels and, more importantly, the variability of the states over time. Guided by Cash’s (2002b) cognitive-behavioral model, body image trait variables included evaluation, investment, affect, and coping strategies. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) greater trait body dissatisfaction and dysphoria are expected to predict less favorable body image states; (2) dysfunctional appearance investment (schematicity) is expected to predict less favorable and more unstable body image states; (3) less usage of positive rational acceptance coping and more usage of appearance fixing and avoidant coping are hypothesized to predict less favorable and less stable body image states; (4) greater eating disturbance is expected be related to more negative and unstable body image states.

Section snippets

Participants

In exchange for extra credit in psychology courses, 148 women attending Old Dominion University enrolled in this study. Forty women were dropped from the final sample because they did not sufficiently comply with the instructions. Noncompliance analyses are presented in the Results section. The remaining 108 participants ranged in age from 18 to 47 years, with a mean age of 22.4 (SD=4.7). The sample consisted of 60% White women, 35% African American women, 3% Hispanic/Latina women, and 1% who

Participant compliance

Prior to analysis, data were examined for compliance with instructions for Phase 2 of the study. Compliance was defined as missing no more than 3 of the 12 telephone calls. BISS entries were accepted if recorded before 2 p.m. for morning calls and between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m. for evening calls. From the original sample of 148 women, 40 women (27%) were dropped from primary data analyses because they did not meet these compliance criteria.

Procedural noncompliance raises a question about the

Discussion

Very little body image research actually assesses body image states over the course of everyday life (Cash, 2002a). Even less research examines the intra-individual variability of these experiences (Amorose, 2001). The main objective of this study, using a computerized telephonic methodology (Janda et al., 2001), was to investigate hypothesized predictors of average daily body image state levels and their variability. Specifically, we sought to determine whether trait measures of body image and

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