The relationship of positive body image to self-compassion and ethnic identity in adult women
Permanent Link
http://hdl.handle.net/11603/2017Metadata
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Date
2014-07-232014-05
Type of Work
application/pdfvi, 46 pages
Text
theses
Department
Towson University. Department of PsychologyRights
Copyright protected, all rights reserved.There are no restrictions on access to this document. An internet release form signed by the author to display this document online is on file with Towson University Special Collections and Archives.
Abstract
A positive body image is theorized to be more than the absence of a negative body image, which has been the primary focus of research. Self-compassion, ethnic identity, and age are all variables that have been shown to be important to healthy self-concept in women, and there is some initial evidence that they may also be important for positive body image (Smith & Silva, 2011; Wasylkiw, MacKinnon, & MacLellan, 2012) This study investigated the role of self-compassion and ethnic identity in positive body image in a diverse sample of adult women. Participants (n=291) completed an online survey consisting of the Body Appreciation Scale (Avalos, Tylka, & Wood-Barcalow, 2005), Multi-Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney & Ong, 2007), Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003b), and a demographic questionnaire. Overall, both self-compassion and ethnic identity accounted for a statistically significant variance in positive body image, which did not vary with women's age. Implications for future research and counseling interventions are discussed.