Psychology School, University of Minho, 4704-553 Braga, Portugal.
CEDH-Research Centre for Human Development, Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal.
Nutrients. 2023 May 26;15(11):2484. doi: 10.3390/nu15112484.
Physical appearance comparisons have been theorized to be associated with negative indicators of body image. This study aimed to study appearance comparisons and their association to affect, body dissatisfaction, and eating pathology. Three hundred and ten female university students with ages between 17 and 25 years (M = 20.2, SD = 1.9) completed sociodemographic and clinical data, self-reported questionnaires, and questions about appearance comparisons. Among the participants, 98.71% reported making appearance comparisons, and 42.15% of these reported making them frequently or always. Higher reported frequencies of appearance comparisons were related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction, negative affect, and eating pathology. Appearance comparisons to acquaintances were the most frequent. Comparisons in person and through media were reported in similar proportions. Upward comparisons were more frequent than lateral and downward comparisons and were related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction than downward comparisons and to higher levels of body dissatisfaction, negative affect, and eating pathology than lateral comparisons. Upward comparisons to close peers were associated with higher body dissatisfaction as opposed to models/celebrities. Results, limitations, and implications are discussed.
人们推测，外貌比较与身体意象的负面指标有关。本研究旨在研究外貌比较及其与情绪、身体不满和饮食病理学的关系。310 名年龄在 17 至 25 岁之间的女性大学生（M=20.2，SD=1.9）完成了社会人口学和临床数据、自我报告的问卷以及关于外貌比较的问题。在参与者中，98.71%的人报告说他们会进行外貌比较，其中 42.15%的人经常或总是这样做。报告的外貌比较频率越高，身体不满、负性情绪和饮食病理学的水平就越高。与熟人的外貌比较是最常见的。人们以相似的比例在现实中和通过媒体进行比较。与横向和向下比较相比，向上比较更为频繁，与向下比较相比，向上比较与更高的身体不满、负性情绪和饮食病理学有关，与横向比较相比，向上比较与更高的身体不满有关。与亲密同龄人相比，与模特/名人的向上比较与更高的身体不满有关。讨论了结果、局限性和意义。
