IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v21y2020i2d10.1007_s10902-019-00093-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Body Image in the Prediction of Life Satisfaction and Flourishing in Men and Women

Author

Listed:
  • Leanne L. Davis

    (University of New Brunswick Saint John
    Saint John Regional Hospital)

  • Samantha A. Fowler

    (University of New Brunswick Saint John
    Saint John Regional Hospital)

  • Lisa A. Best

    (University of New Brunswick Saint John)

  • Lilly E. Both

    (University of New Brunswick Saint John)

Abstract

Body dissatisfaction and appreciation are associated with personality factors and health outcomes in men and women. However, given that personality traits are well-established predictors of subjective well-being, it is important to control for their effects in prediction models. In the present study, it was hypothesized that body dissatisfaction and body appreciation significantly predict life satisfaction and flourishing above and beyond the influences of age, BMI, and personality factors. To test this hypothesis, an online sample of 112 male and 336 female adults completed measures assessing life satisfaction, flourishing, body dissatisfaction, body appreciation, and personality. The analyses demonstrated that women reported significantly greater body dissatisfaction, Neuroticism, Extraversion and Conscientiousness than men; however, there were no gender differences in body appreciation or the measures of well-being. Results of several hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that, once the effects of age, BMI, and personality were accounted for, body appreciation significantly predicted both life satisfaction and flourishing in men and women. Body dissatisfaction did not appear to withstand the regression tests, emerging as a statistically significant predictor of life satisfaction in women only. Further, the size of the coefficient was not as large as those of the other regressors, suggesting it was not as influential in the prediction of life satisfaction. These results have important implications for the promotion of well-being. Fostering body appreciation may promote individuals’ satisfaction with their lives and enhance levels of self-perceived success.

Suggested Citation

  • Leanne L. Davis & Samantha A. Fowler & Lisa A. Best & Lilly E. Both, 2020. "The Role of Body Image in the Prediction of Life Satisfaction and Flourishing in Men and Women," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 505-524, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:21:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10902-019-00093-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-019-00093-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-019-00093-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-019-00093-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Corey Keyes & Kenneth Kendler & John Myers & Chris Martin, 2015. "The Genetic Overlap and Distinctiveness of Flourishing and the Big Five Personality Traits," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 655-668, June.
    2. Viren Swami & Ulrich Tran & Stefan Stieger & Martin Voracek, 2015. "Associations Between Women’s Body Image and Happiness: Results of the YouBeauty.com Body Image Survey (YBIS)," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 705-718, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kamila Czepczor-Bernat & Justyna Modrzejewska & Adriana Modrzejewska & Viren Swami, 2022. "The Impact of a Woodland Walk on Body Image: A Field Experiment and an Assessment of Dispositional and Environmental Determinants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-13, November.
    2. Chen, Gui & He, Jinbo & Cai, Zhihui & Fan, Xitao, 2020. "Perceived parenting styles and body appreciation among Chinese adolescents: Exploring the mediating roles of dispositional mindfulness and self-compassion," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Chris Sakellariou, 2023. "The Effect of Body Image Perceptions on Life Satisfaction and Emotional Wellbeing of Adolescent Students:," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(4), pages 1679-1708, August.

    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. Jacky C. K. Ng & Algae K. Y. Au & Helen S. M. Wong & Carmen K. M. Sum & Victor C. Y. Lau, 2021. "Does Dispositional Envy Make You Flourish More (or Less) in Life? An Examination of Its Longitudinal Impact and Mediating Mechanisms Among Adolescents and Young Adults," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1089-1117, March.
    2. Xu, Yilan & Briley, Daniel A. & Brown, Jeffrey R. & Roberts, Brent W., 2017. "Genetic and environmental influences on household financial distress," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 404-424.
    3. Hui-Ling Chen & Po-Fu Lee & Yun-Chi Chang & Fu-Shu Hsu & Ching-Yu Tseng & Xin-Yu Hsieh & Chien-Chang Ho, 2020. "The Association between Physical Fitness Performance and Subjective Happiness among Taiwanese Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-11, May.
    4. Lu Fan & Swarn Chatterjee & Jinhee Kim, 2022. "An Integrated Framework of Young Adults’ Subjective Well-Being: The Roles of Personality Traits, Financial Responsibility, Perceived Financial Capability, and Race," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 66-85, March.
    5. Jessie Coronel* & Hao Weng & Min Chung Han, 2019. "Discussion of Consumers’ Body Satisfaction: Focused on Purchasing Decision and Service Satisfaction," Business, Management and Economics Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 5(9), pages 127-133, 09-2019.
    6. Shuanghu Fang & Dongyan Ding & Pingping Ji & Mingjie Huang & Kesong Hu, 2022. "Cognitive Defusion and Psychological Flexibility Predict Negative Body Image in the Chinese College Students: Evidence from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-16, December.
    7. Li, Shuanglong & Chen, Yunsong & He, Guangye, 2018. "Laugh and grow fat: Happiness affects body mass index among Urban Chinese adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 55-63.

    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:spr:jhappi:v:21:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10902-019-00093-y. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.