Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

More than 100 years of psychological research has demonstrated the importance of body esteem and the relationship between low body esteem and undesirable physical and mental health outcomes. Women and adolescent girls are more vulnerable than men and adolescent boys (Huenemann, Shapiro, Hampton, & Mitchell, 1966). In addition, Caucasians have been more prone to body image disorders (Brylinsky, 1990; Huenemann et al., 1966). Lastly, people with high exposure to Western medias thin ideals are more susceptible to low body esteem (Bell & Dittmar, 2011; Ferguson, Muñoz, Contreras, & Velasquez, 2011). For the purpose of this study, predictors of body esteem were sought in 296 students, ages 18 to 25 years, from a single university in the American Midwest. In addition to the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (Mendelson, White, & Mendelson, 1997), Rosenbergs (1989) Self-Esteem Scale, Triandis and Gelfands (1998) Individualism and Collectivism Scale, the Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (Zea, Asner-Self, Birman, & Buki, 2003), and a demographic survey were used. The ordinary least squares regression was significant ( F (3, 292) = 60.81, p < .001, two tailed) with only self-esteem significantly accounting for variance in body esteem. Only 38% of the variance in body esteem was explained by the model. The homogeneity of the sample prevented ruling out that cultural context or acculturation were predictors. The fact that self-esteem was significant in predicting body esteem was consistent with a number of prior research studies.

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