Why can body dissatisfaction have such a harmful effect on our self-esteem?

We have already seen a strong link between self-esteem and body image. But not only does self-esteem impact body image, body image also has an effect on self-esteem. Body dissatisfaction and weight gain can lead to decreased self-esteem (Tiggemann, 2005). In addition, judging oneself to be overweight seems to be more of a self-esteem issue among women than men, and research has shown that women sometimes see losing weight as a strategy for improving their self-esteem (Bale & Archer, 2013; Furnham, Badmin & Sneade, 2002; Gentile et al., 2009).

Why are our body image and our self-esteem linked to this extent, and why does this link seem to be stronger for females than for males? This is obviously a complex question, but the answer has something to do with how we go about forming our self-esteem. One influential conceptualisation of self-esteem, known as the sociometer hypothesis, sees an individual’s self-esteem as the extent to which they perceive themselves to be included or excluded by others (Leary & Baumeister, 2000). Women in particular may see getting along in relationships with others as highly important to their sense of self-worth. And one important criteria on which individuals make such judgements is how physically attractive they think they are (Bale & Archer, 2013). Perhaps it is worth bearing in mind here that, on average, women believe that men prefer a female figure which is significantly thinner than the female figure that men actually tend to prefer! (Grossbard, Neighbors & Larimer, 2011)

On a more serious note, how can we try to protect against body dissatisfaction having such a harmful effect on our self-esteem? In the spirt of changing our minds and not our bodies, one answer could lie in trying to focus our self-esteem on aspects of ourselves other than our physical appearance – and this is in fact one of the strategies used by the ‘Everybody’s Different’ school project (see Message of the day: 13th January 2015).

 
Bale, C., & Archer, J. (2013). Self-Perceived Attractiveness, Romantic Desirability and Self-Esteem: A mating sociometer perspective. Evolutionary Psychology, 11(1), 68-84.
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Furnham, A., Badmin, N., & Sneade, I. (2002). Body image dissatisfaction: Gender differences in eating attitudes, self-esteem, and reasons for exercise.The Journal of psychology, 136(6), 581-596.

Gentile, B., Grabe, S., Dolan-Pascoe, B., Twenge, J. M., Wells, B. E., & Maitino, A. (2009). Gender differences in domain-specific self-esteem: A meta-analysis. Review of General Psychology, 13(1), 34.

Grossbard, J. R., Neighbors, C., & Larimer, M. E. (2011). Perceived Norms for Thinness and Muscularity among College Students: What Do Men and Women Really Want? Eating Behaviors, 12(3), 192–199.

Leary, M. R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). The nature and function of self-esteem: Sociometer theory. Advances in experimental social psychology, 32, 1-62.

Tiggemann, M. (2005). Body dissatisfaction and adolescent self-esteem: Prospective findings. Body image, 2(2), 129-135.