An International Study of Correlates of Women’s Positive Body Image

Sandra Torres; Carolina A. Araújo; Amanda Fitzgerald; Barbara Dooley; Angeliki Leondari; Cátia Miriam Costa; Dorit Olenik-Shemesh; Efthymia Sygkollitou; Josip Burusic; Liesbet Boone; Marijana Šuvak-Martinović; Maritta Välimäki; Minna Anttila; Tali Heiman; Toni Babarović

doi:10.3390/ejihpe12100107

An International Study of Correlates of Women’s Positive Body Image

Sandra Torres, Carolina A. Araújo, Amanda Fitzgerald, Barbara Dooley, Angeliki Leondari, Cátia Miriam Costa, Dorit Olenik-Shemesh, Efthymia Sygkollitou, Josip Burusic, Liesbet Boone, Marijana Šuvak-Martinović, Maritta Välimäki, Minna Anttila, Tali Heiman, Toni Babarović

Education discipline

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Positive body image (PBI) has received attention in the recent research literature. Despite this, its role in daily functioning in different cultural contexts, particularly its potential relationship with academic outcomes, is still lacking. This study aimed to offer an international perspective on the association between PBI and body mass index (BMI), perceived academic achievement, and educational aspirations, as well as the mediating role of self-esteem. A cross-national study was conducted in eight European countries with a total of 2653 female university students. Participants completed an online survey measuring PBI (conceptualized as body appreciation), self-esteem, perceived academic achievement and aspirations, and body mass index (BMI). Results revealed differences in PBI between countries (low magnitude). PBI correlated negatively with BMI in all national groups (low-to-moderate magnitude). Mediation analysis showed that self-esteem mediated the association between PBI and academic variables. Findings from this study suggest that building students’ self-esteem and PBI can be a suitable way to boost academic success.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1521-1534
Number of pages	14
Journal	European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education
Volume	12
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12100107
State	Published - 19 Oct 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Center for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, FCT UIDB/00050/2020, FCT UIDP/00050/2020.

Funding Information:
This article is based upon work from COST Action Appearance Matters IS1210, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). www.cost.eu .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.

Keywords

academic achievement
educational aspirations
female university students
positive body image
self-esteem

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10.3390/ejihpe12100107

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Torres, S., Araújo, C. A., Fitzgerald, A., Dooley, B., Leondari, A., Costa, C. M., Olenik-Shemesh, D., Sygkollitou, E., Burusic, J., Boone, L., Šuvak-Martinović, M., Välimäki, M., Anttila, M., Heiman, T., & Babarović, T. (2022). An International Study of Correlates of Women’s Positive Body Image. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 12(10), 1521-1534. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12100107

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abstract = "Positive body image (PBI) has received attention in the recent research literature. Despite this, its role in daily functioning in different cultural contexts, particularly its potential relationship with academic outcomes, is still lacking. This study aimed to offer an international perspective on the association between PBI and body mass index (BMI), perceived academic achievement, and educational aspirations, as well as the mediating role of self-esteem. A cross-national study was conducted in eight European countries with a total of 2653 female university students. Participants completed an online survey measuring PBI (conceptualized as body appreciation), self-esteem, perceived academic achievement and aspirations, and body mass index (BMI). Results revealed differences in PBI between countries (low magnitude). PBI correlated negatively with BMI in all national groups (low-to-moderate magnitude). Mediation analysis showed that self-esteem mediated the association between PBI and academic variables. Findings from this study suggest that building students{\textquoteright} self-esteem and PBI can be a suitable way to boost academic success.",

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Torres, S, Araújo, CA, Fitzgerald, A, Dooley, B, Leondari, A, Costa, CM, Olenik-Shemesh, D, Sygkollitou, E, Burusic, J, Boone, L, Šuvak-Martinović, M, Välimäki, M, Anttila, M, Heiman, T & Babarović, T 2022, 'An International Study of Correlates of Women’s Positive Body Image', European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, vol. 12, no. 10, pp. 1521-1534. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12100107

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AU - Olenik-Shemesh, Dorit

AU - Sygkollitou, Efthymia

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AU - Boone, Liesbet

AU - Šuvak-Martinović, Marijana

AU - Välimäki, Maritta

AU - Anttila, Minna

AU - Heiman, Tali

AU - Babarović, Toni

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An International Study of Correlates of Women’s Positive Body Image

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Bibliographical note

Keywords

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