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Cross‐Cultural Comparisons of Appearance Self‐Schema, Body Image, Self‐Esteem, and Dieting Behavior Between Korean and U.S. Women
Author(s) -
Jung Jaehee,
Lee SeungHee
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
family and consumer sciences research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.372
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1552-3934
pISSN - 1077-727X
DOI - 10.1177/1077727x06286419
Subject(s) - dieting , psychology , schema (genetic algorithms) , self esteem , collectivism , human physical appearance , disordered eating , social psychology , sociocultural evolution , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , eating disorders , individualism , medicine , machine learning , weight loss , sociology , computer science , political science , anthropology , law , obesity
This study conducted cross‐cultural comparisons of appearance self‐schema, body image, self‐esteem, and dieting behavior between women from Korea and the United States. Participants were 201 undergraduates from a central university in Seoul, South Korea and 205 undergraduates from a mid‐Atlantic university in the United States. They completed a questionnaire in their native language that included measures of appearance self‐schema, body image, self‐esteem, dieting behavior, and demographic information. Women in both cultural groups with high appearance self‐schema were less satisfied with their overall bodies and revealed lower self‐esteem than those with low appearance self‐schema. Korean women placed greater importance on appearance, were more critical of their bodies, and revealed lower self‐esteem than U.S. women. However, U.S. women showed higher scores on dieting behavior than Korean women. Implications are discussed in relation to the cultural concept (i.e., individualism versus collectivism) and sociocultural factors such as media and gender roles.