The Specifics of Self-Body Image Perception and Self-conception in Women with Different Body Mass Indexes

Introduction. Currently, a relevant object of research is the identification of differences in women’s perception of their actual weight and subjective assessment of their body image and self-conception in relation to weight. Since the perception of body image is greatly influenced by fashion trends and beauty standards broadcast in society, women may exhibit different cognitive and behavioral patterns depending on their body mass index. Objective. To study the relationship between the features of perception of body image and self-esteem in women with different body mass indexes Materials and methods. The following methods were used in the study: author’s questionnaire-questionnaire of Yetumyan L. A. and Komerova N. A. and Komerova N. E.; Thomas Cash’s Multimodal Body Self-Relationship Questionnaire (MBSRQ, Thomas F. Cash) adapted by Baranskaya L. T. and Tataurova S. T. and Tataurova S. С. The Mann-Whitney U statistic for two independent samples and the r-Spearman rank correlation coefficient were used for mathematical processing of the data. Results. The study included 137 women with different BMI values ranging from 17 to 72 years of age. The mean age of the respondents was 35 years. According to our questionnaire survey, more than 40 % of respondents had overweight or obesity of the 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree. The results are presented by five scales reflecting the following parameters of attitude to one’s own body: evaluation of appearance, appearance orientation, satisfaction with body parameters, concern about being overweight, self-assessment of weight. The results of comparative analysis in two groups have been described – women with low and normal BMI and women with excessive BMI. Discussion. Women in groups with different body mass index have differences in their orientation to appearance. Thus, the higher the weight of women with high BMI, the lower they evaluate the level of their attractiveness and the less effort they put into improving their appearance. They are also more indifferent to appearance. No such correlation was found in women with low and normal BMI. The high importance of appearance for women from both subgroups is directly correlated with a high level of concern about excess weight, which indicates an attitude to one’s own weight as one of the factors determining external attractiveness.