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1 - Overview of the Field of Positive Body Image

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2018

Elizabeth A. Daniels
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Meghan M. Gillen
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Charlotte H. Markey
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
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Summary

Unlike the multiple-decade history of research on negative body image, research on positive body image is relatively recent, appearing as the body appreciation construct in the scientific literature in 2005. Despite its recent history, positive body image research is now burgeoning, and considered essential to the future of the body image field. This introductory chapter covers the development of positive body image as a programmatic body of research over the 13-year timeframe. More specifically, it presents the disciplines and actions that contributed to its rise as a distinct field of study. It discusses the key qualitative studies on positive body image and how they have been used to define, operationalize, and provide a framework for understanding this construct. It reviews components of positive body image (body appreciation, body acceptance and love, broadly conceptualizing beauty, adaptive appearance investment, inner positivity influencing outer demeanor, and protective filtering) and existing psychometrically sound scales used to assess these components. It organizes correlational, longitudinal, and experimental research on positive body image, with a focus on its connections to physical health and psychological well-being. The chapter ends with a discussion of future research that can help move the field of positive body image forward.
Type
Chapter
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Body Positive
Understanding and Improving Body Image in Science and Practice
, pp. 6 - 33
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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