The present study evaluated whether the strength of relationship between contextual cues (presence of company and mood) and state body dissatisfaction varied as a function of individual differences in key trait measures (body shame, body surveillance tendencies, internalization of appearance standards, and trait affect) which have been linked to trait body dissatisfaction. Fifty-five undergraduate women completed a questionnaire containing the trait-based measures and then carried a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) for a 7-day period. The PDA prompted participants six times daily to self-report their current mood and state body dissatisfaction. Multi-level modeling revealed that individual differences in body shame predicted inter-individual variability in the strength of the relationships between presence of company and state body dissatisfaction, and positive mood and state body dissatisfaction. Trait positive affect also explained variance in the positive mood state-body dissatisfaction relationship. The implications of the findings for prevention of body image disturbances are discussed.
Body image is a multidimensional construct defined as an individual's perception of, and attitudes towards, his or her body and appearance (Cash, Fleming, Alindogan, Steadman, & Whitehead, 2002). It encompasses a range of cognitive, affective, and perceptual phenomena (Banfield and McCabe, 2002 and Thompson et al., 1999). Body dissatisfaction is one aspect of body image, relating to an individual's degree of dissatisfaction with particular parts of the body (Cook-Cottone & Phelps, 2003). It is argued that body dissatisfaction consists of both state and trait aspects (Cash et al., 2002, Thompson, 2004 and Vocks et al., 2009). Trait body dissatisfaction is considered to be a stable and unchanging characteristic that is transferable across a wide range of contexts. Trait body dissatisfaction has been linked to personality traits (e.g., perfectionism, trait affect, and self-esteem), appearance-related factors (e.g., shame felt about one's appearance, body surveillance, internalization of the thin ideal), and socio-cultural influences (e.g., media, interpersonal relations) (Anschutza et al., 2009, Stice, 2002, Tissot and Crowther, 2008 and van den Berg and Thompson, 2007).
