Scientists have revealed the secret of sustained confidence in their own body
More than 60% of adults in the UK are unhappy with their appearance, and the number of people with eating disorders in the country is estimated at about 1.25 million. At the same time, the perception of one's own body is influenced not only by beauty standards, but also by social networks, comparing oneself with others, comments from others, and stigmatization. Researchers from the University of Surrey decided to look at the problem from a different angle and find out what helps some people maintain confidence in their own bodies. About how attitudes towards appearance are formed and what strategies allow us to resist the pressure of society, see the "Izvestia" material.
Why striving for the "perfect body" doesn't make people more confident
Modern culture constantly offers a person an idea of what the body should be like. Idealized images appear on social media and traditional media, and conversations about appearance can continue in family, among friends, or even in casual situations. As a result, a person may begin to perceive their own body through comparison with a certain standard and feel dissatisfied if they believe that they do not meet it.
The scale of the problem is illustrated by the results of a UK government study published on their website. According to statistics, more than 60% of adults are dissatisfied with their appearance. In addition, about 1.25 million people in the country live with eating disorders. The authors call the negative perception of one's own body a significant factor associated with a deterioration in well-being and mental health.
At the same time, it's not just about whether a person likes his reflection in the mirror. The image of one's own body includes the perception of appearance, attitude towards it, and emotional reaction to one's own body. Therefore, constant dissatisfaction can affect daily life much more broadly — from self-esteem to relationships with others and behavior.
What influences the perception of one's own body
One of the most studied factors remains comparing oneself with other people. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the journal Body Image have shown a link between online social comparison and problems related to body image and eating behavior. The more a person focuses on how others look, the more likely it is that their own appearance will become the object of constant evaluation.
Social networks play a special role. Research shows that it's not just the amount of time spent online that matters, but also what kind of content a person consumes. Systematic reviews link viewing and publishing appearance-oriented photos, as well as content that encourages self-comparison with others, to negative body image changes.
A separate problem is materials that demonstrate a certain type of appearance as a model of physical fitness or attractiveness. A meta-analysis of studies on so-called fitspiration content, published in the journal Eating and Weight Disorders, showed that watching it can increase dissatisfaction with one's own body, comparison of appearance and negative mood, and these effects were especially pronounced in young people.
Fitspiration-content, or fitness motivation, is social media content designed to inspire people to exercise and lead a healthy lifestyle.
But social media is far from the only source of pressure. Body perception can also be influenced by parents, friends, peers, and the general cultural context. As a result, the idea of how a person "should" look is formed not from a single source, but from a multitude of repetitive messages. Therefore, even an ordinary remark about weight or appearance can become part of a broader system of comparison and evaluation.
Who is most often at risk?
Adolescence is considered to be a particularly vulnerable period: the body changes rapidly, and the opinions of peers and others become very important. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that adolescence is a period of intense physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. It is at this time that many of a person's ideas about himself and his place among others are formed.
Data from the WHO study in Europe and Central Asia also show the scale of the problem. According to the results of the international study Health Behavior in School-aged Children, almost 30% of teenagers consider themselves "too fat". 34% of girls answered this way, 24% of boys. Thus, anxiety about one's own body is common in both sexes, although it is more common in girls.
Another vulnerable group is people who face stigmatization due to their weight. In this case, the problem may increase not only because of your own ideas about appearance, but also because of the reactions of others. Ridicule, condemnatory comments, and discrimination can reinforce the feeling that a person's body does not meet public expectations.
At the same time, the problem cannot be reduced exclusively to women or people with a large body size. A study of social media in the journal L'encéphale shows a link between negative body image and platform use in both girls and boys. An important factor is primarily the content related to appearance and the tendency to compare oneself with others.
Who are the "pioneers of body confidence"?
It was against this background that researchers from the University of Surrey decided to study people who manage to maintain a positive attitude towards their own bodies, despite the widespread ideals of appearance and the pressure of others. The authors of the study, published in the journal Medical Xpress, call them trailblazers of body confidence (body confidence trailblazers). This is not the name of a separate medical or psychological group, but the definition of people who demonstrate resistance to negative messages about their appearance.
As part of the described study, scientists talked to overweight and obese people, as they are the ones who are most often faced with stigmatization and pressure related to appearance. The researchers were not interested in why a person remains dissatisfied with his body, but in the opposite question: what makes him feel confident even in a situation where society constantly reports that his body allegedly does not meet the ideal enough.
The authors have identified several ways in which people protect their attitudes towards the body, and the study shows that the strategies vary in effectiveness. For example, trying to present oneself as conforming to an ideal can temporarily maintain a positive sense of self, but at the same time preserves the very idea that a certain type of body is more valuable.
Researchers consider other approaches to be much healthier, such as positive humor and self—affirmation. They allow a person to stop perceiving their own weight or size as the main criterion of their own worth.
How does one's attitude towards one's own body change
One of the approaches that scientists have identified is self-affirmation. People with a positive attitude towards their bodies do not necessarily try to convince themselves that they fully conform to the existing ideal. Instead, they perceive their own value beyond their appearance and pay attention to other important aspects of life, such as relationships, professional goals, and personal qualities.
Another strategy is positive humor, which helps to distance oneself from the pressure of beauty standards. Researchers separately note the difference between the ability to laugh at the absurdity of a situation and self-destructive jokes. Participants in the British study, who used self-developing humor more often, demonstrated a more positive perception of the body. On the other hand, people who constantly ridiculed themselves were more likely to be unhappy with their appearance and wanted to be thinner.
Protecting one's own borders is also becoming an important part of the strategy. The study participants said that in response to a stigmatizing attitude, they could openly defend the right to look the way they look, not respond to unpleasant comments, or stop communicating with people who made them feel ashamed. However, some preferred to simply walk away from the situation, and in some cases, limit contact even with family members. The researchers note that for such behavior, a person may need the support of friends and family.
Finally, the authors associate the positive perception of the body with the idea of "body functionality" — a focus not on how the body looks, but on what it allows a person to do. This approach helps to shift attention from compliance with an external standard to the capabilities of one's own body.
Researchers consider it promising to further spread such attitudes, including through social networks: a person can not only abandon accounts that increase dissatisfaction with appearance, but also consciously form a feed of content that challenges unrealistic standards.
Thus, it's not about making a person fall in love with every part of their body or completely stop noticing their appearance. A study by the University of Surrey shows a different way: to associate self-worth less with size and weight, to compare oneself less often with idealized images, to notice the possibilities of the body and learn to protect oneself from stigmatization. According to the authors, it is precisely such attitudes that can help to gradually weaken the influence of the idea of "one ideal body" on a person's self-esteem.
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