The relationship of positive body image to self-compassion and ethnic identity in adult women

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2014-07-23

Department

Towson University. Department of Psychology

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

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.

Subjects

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.