My Observed Body. The Moderating Role of Body Compassion in the Relationship Between Social Physique Anxiety and Body Dissatisfaction

INTRODUCTION. Physique and physical appearance are ever important in how people see themselves and are viewed by others in their social environment, especially in western culture in which the levels of body dissatisfaction are high among women (MacNeill, Best, & Davis, 2017), also in the Italian context (Pirani & Matera, 2018). People with negative body image tend to worry about how others view their body showing the social physique anxiety, that is the tendency to become anxious and nervous when others can observe and evaluate one’s physique (Hart, Leary, & Rejeski, 1989). Young women who were more anxious about their physical appearance experienced more body weight and shape concerns than those who are less anxious (Thompson & Chad, 2002). The level and intensity of these negative thoughts and how others view one’s body may affect behaviors negatively. Women with higher social physique anxiety are likely to avoid situations in which their body is in public view and activities that accentuate their body. They become distressed about their physical appearance and attempt to improve their body shape and size by unhealthy behaviors (e.g., Eriksson,Baigi, Marklund, & Lindgren, 2008). Most of the contemporary research on body image is theoretically based on a cognitive-behavioral model (Cash, 2011). In an effort to bridge the constructs of body image and self-compassion (Neff, 2003), Altman, Linfield, Salmon and Beacham (2017) propose body compassion as a new body-focused construct, that provides an opportunity for intervention and measurement of the relationship that individuals have with their bodies. The role of body compassion on the relationship between social physique anxiety and body dissatisfaction. The present study aims to analyze the association between social physique anxiety and body dissatisfaction. Body compassion was taken into account as a moderating variable. METHODS. Participants were 200 Italian women (mean age = 27, SD = 5.81) who completed a questionnaire containing the Social Physique Anxiety Scale-7, the Body Shape Questionnaire-14, the Body Compassion Scale and sociodemographic information. Regression analysis was performed. To assess whether moderation occurred, we used Jamovi’s package General Linear Model. RESULTS. Regression analysis show that social physique anxiety positively predicted body dissatisfaction, that is negatively predicted by body compassion. Furthermore, the association between social physique anxiety and body dissatisfaction was moderated by body compassion levels. DISCUSSION. These findings suggest that body compassion was negatively associated both to social physique anxiety and body dissatisfaction. We found that higher social physique anxiety predicted high levels of body dissatisfaction among Italian women; this association was moderated by body compassion. CONCLUSION. Social physique anxiety and body dissatisfaction are transversal concerns to various disturbances. In line with previous findings (e.g., Altman, Zimmaro, & Woodruff-Borden, 2017), the present study contributes to support for body compassion as a potential cognitive-behavioral treatment target of body image–related disturbances at clinical and subclinical levels. Increasing body compassion abilities is potentially beneficial for reducing social physique anxiety and body dissatisfaction among Italian women.