Date of Award

5-11-2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

First Advisor

Murnen, Sarah

Abstract

In current Western society, body dissatisfaction is generally considered to be the norm. However, that is not the case with all individuals. What factors cause some people to have body appreciation? Self-compassion is a relatively new construct in Western psychology that may positively influence people‰Ûªs views of their bodies. In this study, female college students (N = 241) completed measures of self-compassion, body appreciation, physical appearance comparison, surveillance of the body, and internalization of sociocultural messages about body image. Correlational analysis showed significant relationships between all of the variables. Path analysis determined that there was a direct link between self-compassion and body appreciation. In addition internalization and surveillance partially mediated the relationship between self-compassion and body appreciation. The results suggest that self-compassion is an important construct related to women‰Ûªs views of their bodies that deserves further study.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (p. 27-36)

Rights Statement

All rights reserved. This copy is provided to the Kenyon Community solely for individual academic use. For any other use, please contact the copyright holder for permission.

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