Brunel University London
Department of Life Sciences
College of Health and Life Sciences
Investigating the impact of anxiety over
physical appearance on body size perception.
Diluxshi Tharmakumar 1715946
Submitted in part fulfilment for the
Bachelor of Science degree in
Psychology
April 2020
, ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Little is known regarding the impact of anxiety over physical
appearance on body size perception and how demographic features affect visual
categorization of body size. METHODS: Here I assessed how participants visual
categorization performance is impacted by gender and race. I also assessed with
questionnaires: SATAQ – 3, SATAQ – 4, FNAES and PASTAS the impact of anxiety over
body size perception. Specifically, I investigated the impact of observed subjects’ race, gender
and body size on categorization performance of the participants. To study the potential effects
of these factors and the impact of anxiety by the questionnaires, an experiment was designed.
RESULTS: Preliminary results showed that participants’ visual categorization was
modulated by gender, race and body size in weight categories. A significant interaction was
found between the gender and BMI weight categories of the stimuli, as categorization
performance was best in male stimuli for underweight relative to underweight and obese,
female stimuli were better visually categorized for obese and overweight.
Interestingly, results showed no significant effect of social media pressure, family pressure
and peer pressure on the fear of negative appearance, measured by FNAES questionnaire.
Waist and hips appeared to be of importance of one’s body size perception compare to other
body parts. DISCUSSION: Unfortunately, the sample size was for the questionnaires very
low, and therefore not very reliable for the questionnaires. However, the participants who took
part in experiment 1 also took part in experiment 2 which enables the possibility to make
statement about both experiments. CONCLUSION: Our results illustrate that body size
perception is not uniform across participants and can be influenced by demographics of their
own and of the stimuli they observe. Our results also show a relevance of anxiety over body
size perception and suggestions for further research.
2
, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO DR ANNIE CHAN, WHOSE
SUPPORT AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE PARTICULARITIES AND NUANCES OF PSYCHOLOGY,
PARTICULARLY BODY SIZE PERCEPTION, HAS INSPIRED, TAUGHT AND CHALLENGED ME ABOVE
AND BEYOND LIMITS. WITHOUT THE INSPIRATION I GAINED FROM MY SUPERVISOR, I WOULD
HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH SUCH PROFOUND HYPOTHESIS WHICH I HOPE WILL
CONTRIBUTE IN THE FIELD OF PSYCHOLOGY.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO OFFER MY GREATEST APPRECIATION TO MY DISSERTATION GROUP FOR
THEIR ADVICE AND DIRECTION. THROUGH ALL THE DIFFICULTIES I FACED WITH STATISTICAL
METHODS, TECHNICAL AND SOFTWARE DIFFICULTIES, I THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, SUPPORT
AND EFFORTS.
TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS, YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT THROUGH THIS LONG ENDEAVOR HAS
BEEN CRUCIAL TO MY SUCCESS SO FAR. THANKS TO MY PARENTS FOR THEIR CONTINUOUS HARD
WORK AND SUPPORT. WITHOUT THEIR SUPPORT OR ENCOURAGEMENT, I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN
ABLE TO MAKE IT THIS FAR. THANK YOU TO MY CLOSED ONES WHO KEPT FEEDING ME WITH
MOTIVATION AND POSITIVITY THAT I CAN DO THIS. THANK YOU, GOD, FOR GIVING ME THIS
OPPORTUNITY AND GUIDING ME TO COME THIS FAR DESPITE OF THE STRUGGLES AND OBSTACLES
FACED.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING WITH ME THESE LONG YEARS WITH SUCH TRUTH,
GENTLENESS, LOVE AND PATIENCE
3
, TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT 2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3
ABBREVIATIONS 6
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
LIST OF TABLES 7
LIST OF FIGURES 10
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 12
1.1 INTRODUCTION. 12
1.2 REVIEW LITERATURE 13
1.2A STUDY 1: BODY SIZE PERCEPTION IN RELATION WITH ETHNICITY/RACE AND 13
GENDER
1.2B STUDY 2: ANXIETY IN RELATION WITH BODY SIZE PERCEPTION 15
OVER PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS 23
3.1 RESULTS
EXPERIMENT 1 23
3.1.1DEMOGRAPHICS 23
3.1.2 MAIN EFFECT GENDER ON ACCURACY 24
3.1.3 MAIN EFFECT ON CATEGORIZATION PERFORMANCE 25
3.1.4 MAIN EFFECT BMI WEIGHT CATEGORIES ON CATEGORIZATION PERFORMANCE 26
3.1.5 INTERACTION EFFECT BMI WEIGHT CATEGORIES, RACE AND GENDER ON 29
CATEGORIZATION PERFORMANCE
EXPERIMENT 2 31
3.2.1DEMOGRAPHICS 31
3.2.2 MODELS AND MEDIA HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON ANXIETY 32
3.2.3 FAMILY AND PEER PRESSURE HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON ANXIETY 33
3.2.4 IN GENERAL VS RIGHT NOW 34
3.2.5 MUSCULAR/ATHLETIC VS THIN/LOW BODYFAT 35
3.2.6 PARTICIPANTS ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR WAIST AND STOMACH 36
COMPARED TO OTHER BODY PARTS
3.2.7 PARTICIPANTS WITH A BODY SIZE PERCEPTION OF OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE 37
HAVE HIGHER SCORE ON THE FNAES
CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION 38
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