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Body image and personality: Associations between the Big Five Personality Factors, actual‐ideal weight discrepancy, and body appreciation
Author(s) -
SWAMI VIREN,
TRAN ULRICH S.,
BROOKS LOUISE HOFFMANN,
KANAAN LAURA,
LUESSE ELLENMARLENE,
NADER INGO W.,
PIETSCHNIG JAKOB,
STIEGER STEFAN,
VORACEK MARTIN
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/sjop.12014
Subject(s) - psychology , neuroticism , personality , trait , big five personality traits , body mass index , social psychology , body weight , ideal (ethics) , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , philosophy , pathology , epistemology , computer science , programming language
Studies have suggested associations between personality dimensions and body image constructs, but these have not been conclusively established. In two studies, we examined direct associations between the Big Five dimensions and two body image constructs, actual‐ideal weight discrepancy and body appreciation. In Study 1, 950 women completed measures of both body image constructs and a brief measure of the Big Five dimensions. In Study 2, 339 women completed measures of the body image constructs and a more reliable measure of the Big Five. Both studies showed that Neuroticism was significantly associated with actual‐ideal weight discrepancy (positively) and body appreciation (negatively) once the effects of body mass index and social status had been accounted for. These results are consistent with the suggestion that Neuroticism is a trait of public health significance requiring attention by body image scholars.