|
|
Hypothesis: The majority of teenage girls in Western Australia have a negative body image perception of themself. Body Image: Body image defines how an individual feels about their own body. It is their opinion of their personal appearance and relates to an individual’s judgment of their size, weight, shape and physical appearance of either a particular body part or their whole structure. Body image can be defined as “…a concept or scheme incorporating a collection of feelings and perceptions such as overall awareness of the body, perception of body boundaries, attention to parts of the body as well as the whole, perception of size of the parts and the whole, and position in space and gender-related perceptions…It has been studied from numerous and varied perspectives, such as psychological, philosophical and sociological.” (Reference: http://www.loretonh.nsw.edu.au/Pastoral/Body_Iage/what_is_body_image.htm) People can have a positive or a negative body image perception. Positive Body Image: A positive body image is the true perception of your appearance. It is accepting and feeling comfortable and confident about how you look so that “You celebrate and appreciate your natural body shape and you understand that a person’s physical appearance says very little about their character and value as a person.” (Reference: http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/) Positive body image reflects confidence and pride in your body and refusal to worry about food, calories and weight or size. Negative Body Image: A negative body image is having a distorted perception of your physical shape, believing yourself to be unattractive, being self-conscious about your weight, size and shape and having a low self esteem in regards to your body.
|
