IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i14p7460-d593287.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating the Linkages between BMI, Body Image, and SATAQ among Young Asian Females

Author

Listed:
  • Jane Lu Hsu

    (Department of Marketing, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402204, Taiwan)

  • Rainbow Tsai-Ling Hung

    (Department of Marketing, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402204, Taiwan)

  • Melchior Antoine

    (Department of Marketing, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402204, Taiwan)

Abstract

Sociocultural attitudes toward appearance and its linkage to body mass index (BMI) and body image is a relationship worth studying, especially in Asia, where the idealization of thinness can be prominent. The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ) developed by Heinberg et al. in 1995 was used in this study to examine whether these beliefs have been internalized. Furthermore, the Body Esteem Scale (BES) was used to quantify body image. The formal in-person survey was administered in Taipei, Taiwan. There were 301 valid samples out of 330 surveyed respondents. To enhance the representativeness of the samples, a stratified sampling technique was applied to generate survey data with valid samples following gender and age distributions of the population between the ages of 14 and 28. The internalization dimension represented how strongly the respondents considered the importance of the socially accepted concept of appearance based on personal perceived social norms. The other dimension, awareness, represented the sociocultural pressures from the outside world, such as from the image of slimness illustrated in the media or group, in comparison to personal beliefs. Our results demonstrated that respondents with above-normal BMIs internalized the socially preferred standards of thinness more than respondents with normal or under-normal BMIs. Furthermore, results also revealed, overall, a negative relationship between SATAQ and body image and between body image and BMI. The study highlights the need to emphasize “fitness over thinness” to help improve negative body image among young Asian females.

Suggested Citation

  • Jane Lu Hsu & Rainbow Tsai-Ling Hung & Melchior Antoine, 2021. "Investigating the Linkages between BMI, Body Image, and SATAQ among Young Asian Females," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-11, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7460-:d:593287
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7460/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7460/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pilar Aparicio-Martinez & Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno & María Pilar Martinez-Jimenez & María Dolores Redel-Macías & Claudia Pagliari & Manuel Vaquero-Abellan, 2019. "Social Media, Thin-Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Mohammad Ahmadpanah & Mona Arji & Jaleh Arji & Mohammad Haghighi & Leila Jahangard & Dena Sadeghi Bahmani & Serge Brand, 2019. "Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance, Self-Esteem and Symptoms of Body-Dysmorphic Disorders among Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-13, October.
    3. Barbara Jiotsa & Benjamin Naccache & Mélanie Duval & Bruno Rocher & Marie Grall-Bronnec, 2021. "Social Media Use and Body Image Disorders: Association between Frequency of Comparing One’s Own Physical Appearance to That of People Being Followed on Social Media and Body Dissatisfaction and Drive ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-14, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. An T. Vuong & Hannah K. Jarman & Jo R. Doley & Siân A. McLean, 2021. "Social Media Use and Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Thin- and Muscular-Ideal Internalisation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Karolina Krupa-Kotara & Mateusz Grajek & Mateusz Rozmiarek & Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko & Wiktoria Staśkiewicz & Patxi León-Guereño & Aitor Martínez Aguirre-Betolaza & Arkaitz Castañeda-Babarro, 2023. "The Role of Social Media in Internalizing Body Knowledge—A Cross-Sectional Study among Women with Different Food Preferences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-10, January.
    3. April Karlinsky & Holly Howe & Melissa de Jonge & Alan Kingstone & Catherine M. Sabiston & Timothy N. Welsh, 2021. "Body Image and Voluntary Gaze Behaviors towards Physique-Salient Images," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Sari Castrén & Terhi Mustonen & Krista Hylkilä & Niko Männikkö & Maria Kääriäinen & Kirsimarja Raitasalo, 2022. "Risk Factors for Excessive Social Media Use Differ from Those of Gambling and Gaming in Finnish Youth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-12, February.
    5. Przemysław Seweryn Kasiak & Natalia Adamczyk & Alicja Monika Jodczyk & Aleksandra Kaproń & Anna Lisowska & Artur Mamcarz & Daniel Śliż, 2022. "COVID-19 Pandemic Consequences among Individuals with Eating Disorders on a Clinical Sample in Poland—A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-12, July.
    6. Lavinia Maria Pop & Magdalena Iorga & Raluca Iurcov, 2022. "Body-Esteem, Self-Esteem and Loneliness among Social Media Young Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, April.
    7. Hannah C. Glaser & Sikke R. Jansma & Hanneke Scholten, 2024. "A diary study investigating the differential impacts of Instagram content on youths’ body image," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Anna Dzielska & Magdalena Woynarowska, 2022. "Psychosocial Predictors of Body Weight Congruence in Adolescents Aged 15 and 17 Years in Poland: Findings from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-15, February.
    9. Mary Chidiac & Christopher Ross & Hannah R. Marston & Shannon Freeman, 2022. "Age and Gender Perspectives on Social Media and Technology Practices during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-14, October.
    10. Mario J. Valladares-Garrido & Darwin A. León-Figueroa & Cinthia Karina Picón-Reátegui & Abigaíl García-Vicente & Danai Valladares-Garrido & Virgilio E. Failoc-Rojas & César Johan Pereira-Victorio, 2023. "Prevalence and Factors Associated with Eating Disorders in Military First Line of Defense against COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study during the Second Epidemic Wave in Peru," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7460-:d:593287. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.