Body image of anorexic, obese, and normal females

Abstract

This study investigated disturbances in body image perception with anorexic, obese and control groups (N = 24). Each group was comprised of 8 female subjects matched for age. An original silhouette chart and chi squares were employed, and a significant difference was found among the groups in the perception of the present‐self body image (χ² (8) = 24.19, p < .01), body image at plus 10 pounds (χ² (6) = 27.63, p < .01), and body image at minus 10 pounds (χ² (8) = 26.05, p < .01). No differences among the groups appeared in perceived ideal‐self body image or in their perception of the body image that was expected from their families. A directional trend was noted in anorexic overestimation and obese underestimation on the total concept of body image. Significant differences among the groups as judged via a semantic differential technique were found for personality descriptions of happy/sad, active/passive, popular/unpopular, effective/ineffective, competent/incompetent, smart/stupid, and cold/warm.