List of contentsRelationship between body dysmorphic concern, body comparison and perfectionism.ContentsList of TablesList of FiguresList of AnnexureAbsractCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTIONBody dysmorphic concernBody ComparisonPerfectionismOperational DefinationsRationale of StudyConceptual FrameworkObjectives HypotesisCHAPTER 2: METHODResearch DesignSampleProcedureInstrumentsCHAPTER 3 : RESULTSCHAPTER 4: DISCUSSIONConclusionLimitations and SuggestionFindingsREFRENCESANNEXURES LIST OF FIGURESFigure=1 Conceptual frameworkLIST OF TABLESTable 1 Demographic characteristics of sample (N=200)Table 2 Descriptive statistics and Alpha Reliabilities for all study variables (N=200)Table 3 Pearson correlation matrix for all variables used in study (N=200)Table 4 Linear Regression among variables (N=200)LIST OF ANNEXURCESBody Dysmorphic Concern Scale Body Comparison ScaleThe Frost Multidimensional PerfectionismAbstractThe aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between body dysmorphic concern, body comparison and perfectionism among university students. The study was also aimed at findings the effect of body comparison and body dysmorphic concern.
The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) is a multidimensional self-report scale of perfectionism. It contains a total of 35 items. These are subsumed to the following six subscales: Concern over Mistakes (CM; 9 items), Personal Standards (PS; 7 items), Parental Expectations (PE; 5 items), Parental Criticism (PC; 4 items), Doubts about actions (D; 4 items), and Organization (O; 6 items).
The first five subscales represent the core dimensions of the FMPS whereas the subscale Organization was found to be only loosely related to the other subscales. The body dysmorphic disorder is prevalent in general population and in psychiatric, dermatological, and plastic-surgery patients, but there lacks a structure-validated, comprehensive self-report measure of body image concerns, which is established through both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Body comparison is the process of using information about others to drive conclusions about the self (Festinger, 1954). Being physically attractive is important. People all over the world spend a lot to look good, beautiful and attractive. They under go plastic surgery, visit the beauty parlour and under go herbal tratments to improve and inhance their physical appreance and beauty.INTRODUCTION ?Chapter- 1IntroductionHuman have long history of self adornment because every person has a desire to look the best and attractive.
Physical appearance is a crucial factor in many social situations. The individual who possess an inborn beauty and attraction often outshine others because of their appearance. If a person look good, he feels good which boots his self-confidence and self-esteem.Physical appearance affects the overall personality. People are concerned about their appearance and they want to conform to social or religious ideals, to look good and to get attention.
Many of young people are concerned deeply about their physical appearance in school, college, universities and work places because of variety of personal or social situations. In its extreme form, this apprehension takes the form of abnormality when it interfere with their social, academic, or occupational working in a significant manner(APA,2002).The drive for self-perfection manifests as discontent with “what is,” and a longing to become what one “ought to be” (Dabrowski & Piechowski, 1997, p.42). A perfectionistic tendency depends upon that how you attribute the happenings of your life. Dysmorphic concern has been referred to an increased concern about the physical appearance and its actual or imagined defects (Oosthuizen, Lamber, & Castle, 1998). Sometimes this concern exceeds limits and begins to cause clinically significant distress and hampers the normal functioning, it can be diagnosed as body dysmorphic concern (BDD) which is defined as an extreme concern and preoccopation about a perceived or real (but slight) defects in appreance causing clinically significant impairment and distress.
(APA,2000). Stomer and Thompson(1996) conducted a research that sows that after controlling for self-esteem and weight and weight, social copmarison was still related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction. Perfection is not a destination rather it is a never ending process.
It’s a human tendency to be flawless, to be near perfect. All the creation, progress that we see all around is the rewsult of a desire or effort to be perfect. Nobody wants to be equate as a defected one. It is an inability to compromise on the things which are short standard. People feel good when they find thenselves just perfect. It gives them ultimate satisfaction. Perfectionism is an urge to do everything perfectly.
Perfectionism is not an illness that needs to be cured, rather it is a set of beliefs, about your self and about your relationships with others that need to be transformed and healed. Desire to be flawless is associated with the idea that how and where you think the control lies. So, the aim of current study is to examine the dysmorphic concern and its predictors(body comparison, perfectionism) in the university students.Dysmorphic concernDysmorphic concern considered a serious issue that may people face now a days. Excessive exposures to mass media and changing socio-cultural values have crafted an imaginary body image that produces the insecurity among people regaeding self-image which has resulted in an increase in sale of beauty products. The trend can be seen in an increased concern in beauty enhancing procedures e.
g., dermatology, and plastic surgery which is a proof of increased concern it can lead to many negetive outcomes such as mood guilt and shame (Frobes,Jung, Vaamonde,, Omar, Paris, ; Formiga, 2012; Tiggerman ; Williams, 2012). It is a wide spread among adolescent females and even males.Dysmorphic concern has been referred to an increased concern about the physical appearance and its actual or imagined defects (Oosthuizen, Lamber, ; Castle, 1998). Sometimes this concern exceeds limits and begins to cause clinically significant distress and hampers the normal functioning, it can be diagnosed as body dysmorphic concern (BDD) which is defined as an extreme concern and preoccopation about a perceived or real (but slight) defects in appreance causing clinically significant impairment and distress. (APA,2000).
The researches done in the US identified that much more people than ever before are now dissatisfied with their bodies. For instance, as Serwar (2002) reported a survey that about 56% of females and 43% of males were dissatisfied with their appreance. The individuals indulge in such behaviours and concerns because this concern helps their self-esteem to boost up and makes them more self-confident in social situations however, dysmorphic concern has been studied in literature (Oosthuizen et al.,1998).The litrerature suggest that because of the in creasing popularity of achieving or maintaining a healthy weight and appreance, body image perceptions and concerns are important for university students (Yahia, EI-Ghazale, Achkar, ; Rizk, 2011). More than half sample of college students (55% of women, 63% of men ) had a distorted judgment of their body in spain (Miguez Bernardez, De la Montana Miguelez, Gonzalez Carnero, ; Gonzalez Rodriguez, 2011).Body ComparisonBody comparison is the process of using information about others to drive conclusions about the self (Festinger, 1954). Being physically attractive is important.
People all over the world spend a lot to look good, beautiful and attractive. They under go plastic surgery, visit the beauty parlour and under go herbal tratments to improve and inhance their physical appreance and beauty. We all compare ourselves to others in our social worlds, whether it is comparing our talents to thoes of our co-workers or our looks to those of celebrities we see in the media. Most people compare their own appreance to others who are more attractive. When they don’t meet the ideal standard, they judge themselves that they don’t meet expections of society and they become dissatisfied with their body.
Previous researches showed that social comparison, especially body comparison play a vital role in body dissatisfaction. Festinger (1954) propsed a social comparison theory which explains that there is a need or desire of a person to compare his own life situation, appreance, body shape, progress and life standing to others. In a research specially examining upward and downward social comparison in relation to body dissatisfaction Myers and Crowther (2009) have noted that the people tend to compare themselves to similar others, women have a propensity to make upward comparisons to unrealistic thin ideal images more often they do for similar peers (Engeln Maddox,2005; Strahan, Wilson, Cressman, ; Buote, 2006).Stomer and Thompson(1996) conducted a research that sows that after controlling for self-esteem and weight and weight, social copmarison was still related to higher levels of body dissatifaction.PerfectionismPerfection is not a destination rather it is a never ending process. It’s a human tendency to be flawless, to be near perfect.
All the creation, progress that we see all around is the rewsult of a desire or effort to be perfect. Nobody wants to be equate as a defected one. It is an inability to compromise on the things which are short standard. People feel good when they find thenselves just perfect. It gives them ultimate satisfaction. Perfectionism is an urge to do everything perfectly.
Perfectionism is not an illness that needs to be cured, rather it is a set of beliefs, about your self and about your relationships with others that need to be transformed and healed.Currently there is no agreed upon defination has been formed for perfectionism (Flett, Hewitt, Oliver, & Macdonald, 2002). But still mostly researchers believed that perfectionism is an unwillingness to settle for any thing less than an impeccable personal ideal, recognizable doubts about actions, excessive concern over mistakes, high personal standards, and parental and societal pressure (Hewitt, 1991; Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate,1990). Perfectionism is a disposition that interferes with all areas of life, chiefly work and school, and may also affects ones personal appreance and the nature of social relationships (Stoeber & Stoeber, 2009).Maslow (1971) equated the concept of perfection as the full realization of ones potential with the absence of neurosis. Consequently, perfectionism is charactirized as a personality trait through which the person strives for markedly high standards of performance, along with this a tendency to be overly critical of her or his own performance (Besharat et al; 2010). A perfectionist is a person who strives for high goals, particularly in the work realm.Pacht (1984) describes the negetive results of being a perfectionist.
He stated that perfectionism can only give birth to maladjustment and psychological problems because perfectionists experience disappointment when they do meet their expectionally high standards. They become unable to feel satisfaction in their acheivements.Operational definations dysmorphic concern. The term of Dysmorphic concern has been used to refer to an over-concern with a perceived or slight defect in physical appreance (Oosthuizen, 1998).Individuals that scored high on Dysmorphic concern Questionaire were high on this construct.Body Comparison The process where one compares oneself with others and derives conclusions about oneself is termed as body comparison (Festinger, 1954).Individuals who scored high on Body Comparison Orientation Subscale from Body, Eating and Exercise Comparison Orientation Measures were high on this contruct.
Perfectionism. Perfectionism is an unwillingness to settle for anything less than an impeccable personal ideal, recognizable by doubts about actions, excessive concern over mistakes, high personal standards, and parental and societal pressure (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990 ; Hewitt,1991). In this study scores obtained by The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS), was used as an index of perfectionism.RationaleThe dysmorphic concern in people especially young individuals like students is increasing day by day due to effects of modern era. It is well-recognized that being physically un attractive is considered more of a social liability for people. Physical appreance is a major determinant of the manner in which people are judged in the Pakistani culture.
When physical attractivness affects the value attributed to an individual then the desirability of a physically attractive appreance increase and the risk of an individual developing dysmorphic concern becomes more likely. Many researches were conducted on the dysmorphic concern in the past e.g. a study was conducted to examine the heritability of dysmorphic concerns in a large sample of twins (Monzani, Rijsdijk, Anson, Iervolino, Cherkas, Spector, & Mataix-Cols, 2012). Another study was conducted ro determine the clinical correlates of dysmorphic concern in persons seeking cosmetic enhancement from cosmetic physicians (Castle, Molton, Preston, & Phillips, 2004). It is well recognized that the media is portraying a steadily thinning ideal body image for people (Garner, Garfinkle, Schwartz, & Thompson, 1980; Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, & Kelly, 1986).A study done in the US that pictures in fashion magazines stongly influenced perceptions about the perfect body shapes, and many had gone on diets or started exercise programs because of reading articles (Field, Cheung, Wolf, Herzog, Gortmaker, & Colditz, 1999).
Exposure to ‘the ideal body’ in the media, which portrays an individual with unrealistically thin and slender figures, flawless complesions and airbrushed and photo-shopped features, can play a very important role in increasing insecurities and body image dissatifaction. This can lead to a number of physical and mental health issues, like depression, low self-esteem, shame, social anxiety and eating disorders (Cash, & Pruzinsky, 2002; Stice, Spangler, & Agras, 2001).A number of experimental studies show that exposure to images of beautiful individuals in media has negetive effect on a person’s image of himself and his mood (Groesz, Levine, ; Murnen, 2002; Tiggemann, 2004).
Most people compare their own appreance to others who are ‘more’ attractive (Tiggemann, 2004; Werthim, Paxton, ; Blaney, 2004).Appearance concerns are common now a days. Serial surveys in the US identified that more and more people are dissatisfied with some aspect of their physical appreance with a survey (1997) findings that 43% of men and 56% of women experience dissatisfaction with their over all appreance (Serwar, 2002). Little literature on what supports appearance concerns, here after refferred to as ‘dysmorphic concern’ (Oosthuizen et al; 1998).
So the pupose to conduct the present study is to study the dysmorphic concern in university students.Those people who indulged in body comparisons and perform various behaviours such as applying makeup multiple times a day and hiding their defects with cloths or makeup etc. They have concern about their physical appearance and body shape. Due to body comparison dysmorphic concern is increasing in the general populations. Similarly a study was done on the US college population, which revealed that the most frequent foci of concern foe people were weight/ shape related concerns (Cash, Phillips, Santos, ; Hrabosky,2004).
Perfectionism have been studied for a number of years. Its important in personality development and determination of our attitudes and behaviour has also been concern since many years. Butt (2004) studied the role of perfectionism in psychological health among adolescents in Pakistan.Conceptual Frame WorkObjectivesFigure 1.Conceptual frame work indicating the relationship between the study variables.Objectives1. To determine the relationship between body dysmorphic concern, body comperison and perfectiobism.
2. To understand th moderating role of body dysmorphic concern on the relationship of body comparison and perfectionism.3. To determine the relationship beween body dysmorphic concern and body comparison.Hypotheses1.
There will be positive relationship between body comparison and body dysmorphic concern.2. There will be positive relationship between body dysmorphic concern and perfectionism.3. The level of perfectionism will be higher among girls than boys.METHODOLOGY ?Chapter-2MethodologyThis section will describe research design, sample, sampling techniques, instruments and procedure of data collection.Research designThe research design is used for this research study was survey research design.SampleFor this study purposive sampling technique was used.
The sample was comprise two hundred (N=200) male and female students taken from university. Sample is divided into equal number of male (n=100) and female (n=100). These students belongs to different areas like rural and urban of Sargodha. And sample was also divided according to the level of studies.InstrumentsBody comparison Orientation Subscale from Body, Eating, and exercise Comparison Orientation Measure (Fitzsimmos-Craft et al; 2010).Dysmorphic concern Questionaire (Oosthuizen et al; 1998).The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost, Marten, Lahart, ; Rosenblate, 1990).
ProcedureAfter getting the permission letter from the departmental incharge, the students were personally contacted in their class rooms in order to get the quality information. The participants were briefed about the purpose of the study. They were insured that all data will be kept confidential.
The participants were approached after formal permission. Instructions were provided to them and they were also be allowed to ask question in case of any confusion. The time of administration was not fixed.Table 1Frequency and percentage of participants (N=200)Demographic variables f %Gender Male 100 50 Female 100 50Age 20-22 75 37.
5 22-25 125 62.5 ?RESULTS ?Chapter-3ResultsTable 2ReliabilityAlpha reliabilities for all study variables (N=200)Scales N M SD Alpha Perfectionism 200 115.0400 14.41657 .
745Body dysmorphic concern 200 13.7650 3.56839 .582Body comparison 200 18.9750 6.
94229 .744 The result in the table 2 demonstrate that there are significantly high alpha reliabilitycoefficients for perfectionism .745 and for body dysmorphic concern is .582 and for body comparison is .
744. All the scores are normally distributed.?Table 3 RegressionLinear regression among predictor variables body comparison and perfectionism on body dysmorphic concern.Variables Body dysmorphic concern R^2 BetaBody comparison .
292 .05Result in the table show body dysmorphic concern is significant positive predictor of body dysmorphic concern and perfectionism is constant.?Table 4 CorrelationPerftotal bodycomtotal BodydystotalPerftotal pearson correlation Sig (2-tailed) N 1 200 – -Bodycomtotal perason correlation Sig (2-tailed) N – 1 200 -Bodydystotal pearson correlation Sig (2-tailed) N – – 1 200Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level ( 2-tailed) ?DISCUSSION?DiscussionThe present study was conducted to explore body comparison, Perfectionismas predictor of Body dysmorphic concern in university students. The results show that all scales possessed high item-total correlation and satisfactory reliabilities. The results of correlation analysis revealed that there is significant relationship of body comparison and dysmorphic concern. People who compare their appearance and body shape with their peers and friends will also have concerns about their appearance.
A research conducted by Stomer and Thomson (1996) indicated that after controlling for self-esteem and weight, social-comparison were still related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction.The findings of this study also showed that there is a significant positive relationship between perfectionism and dysmorphic concern. There are different hypotheses of this study.
The first hypotheses of the study was that body comparison would predict dysmorphic concern positively in university students which was accepted in a present study. Body comparison is the process of using information about others to derive conclusions about the self (Festinger, 1954). Now a days it has become important to look physically attractive. It has become the demand of modern society to look good. People all over the world spend a lot of time, money and energies to look beautiful and attractive. They undergo Plastic surgery, visit the beauty parlour and undergo herbal treatments to improve and enhance their physical appearance and beauty.Most people compare their own appearance to others who are ‘more’ attractive.
University students are in a part of age in which they increase their attension to their role models in the media and peers. They compare their own body and appearance to other people which they find attractive. As a consequence they become more concerned about their appearance and body image.The second hypotheses of the study was that there would be positive correlation between perfectionism and dysmorphic concern. Some studies indicate that perfectionism is not a predictor of dysmophic concern. One of the possible reason of the rejection of hypotheses might be the fact that in our culture perfectionism is not as much favoured as it should be. People still take it as a negetive personality trait and the thing that should be avoided.In third hypotheses it was stated that the level of perfectionism will be higher among girls than boys.
By applying t-test significant gender diffrences were found in only personal standard subscale of total perfectionism scale. Furthermore it is revealed that the level of personal standards among boys was higher than girls while there were non significan gender diffrences in total perfectionism scale. Results are consistent with a work of Schuler (1999) She found no gemder diffrences among gifted, rural middle schoolers. Girls strive for perfection especially related to their domestic life, in better expression of emotion and with respect to their appearance.ConclusionThe aim of the study was to examine the relationship between body comparison, Perfectionism and dysmorphic concern among university students. So, it can be concluded that body comparison was the significan predictor of dysmorphic concern. Those who do frequent body comparison with their peers and friends would also have over concern about their appearance and body shape.
It can be concluded that perfectionism was also a significan predictor of dysmorphic concern. Present study also showed some other additional results through extra analysis but these were not the part of the hypotheses of this study.Limitations• Convenient sampling technique was used.
• Measures used in the present study, were self reported.• Sample was taken from one university only.SuggestionIn this study things were explored quantitatively so in depth insight is not present in this study. So, it is suggested that the future researchers should try to explore the things in the study both qualitatively and quantitatively to get the in depth insight.Self-report measures were used in the present study. In self-report measures the respondent may not respond truthfully because they wish to present themselves ia a positive emotions to create a better image of themselves on others.Additional findingsThe findings of this study may be benefical for the teachers, parents and students to keep these findings under considiration while taking some steps or planning some thing.
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