How heavy do you think you are? Self-weight estimation is modulated by body dissatisfaction and weight concerns.

SOFÍA ABREVAYA; LOLA KAPLANSKI; TRINIDAD BELÉN SPERANZA; VERONICA RAMENZONI

Toronto

Encuentro; Cogsci 2022; 2022

Cognitive Science Society

Body perception can be influenced by internal (body satisfaction) and external pressures (social comparison). In thisstudy, 120 young women (18-to-30-year-olds) performed two tasks: they estimated the weight of 15 female body imagesand they compared their weight to that of the images presented in random order. For each estimation, they providedconfidence judgments using a Likert scale. Afterward, they completed the Sociocultural Attitudes Questionnaire TowardsAppearance (SATAQ-4R) and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-21) to evaluate the perceived social pressure on thebody image. Estimation accuracy in the first task was predicted by confidence judgments. Estimation accuracy in theweight comparison tasks was predicted by Body Measuring Index (BMI), weight concern, body dissatisfaction, and peerpressure. Results show that when comparing our weight to others, our own weight, how we feel about our body, andthe perceived pressure to change it determines how accurately we compare it to other people’s bodies.