Fluctuations in body satisfaction across situations

Although the variable nature of body image was underscored by Schilder (The image and appearance of the human body. New York: International Universities Press, 1950), few investigators have addressed the stability of body image or its sensitivity to variation in environmental or situational conditions. Most researchers have assumed that body image is a stable characteristic. The present study was designed to investigate the situational specificity of body satisfaction, one facet of body image. One hundred forty-four undergraduate women indicated their degree of body satisfaction in general and in the following four situations: (a) walking by a group of attractive men and women at the beach in a bathing suit, (b) having a conversation with a close female friend over lunch, (c) getting dressed to go to school in privacy, and (d) trying on bathing suits in the dressing room of a department store. Body satisfaction varied significantly across the four situations for all body parts except the face, hair, and hands. Additionally, body satisfaction scores were found to reflect how subjects felt about their bodies when they were being especially self-critical, rather than how they felt in "everyday" situations.