Selfie-posting on social networking sites,body surveillance,and exercise for weight control among Chinese young women with low body mass index

Under the perspective of self-perception theory and objectification theory, this study aims to examine the association between selfie-posting on social networking sites (SNSs) and exercise for weight control among Chinese young women, as well as the mediating role of body surveillance. A sample of 467 Chinese female students with a BMI lower than 24 were recruited. Participants voluntarily completed questionnaires assessing their selfie-posting behavior on SNSs, body surveillance, and their weight control motivation for exercise. The results show that selfie-posting on SNSs is positively associated with exercise for weight control, and that body surveillance significantly mediates this association. The results suggest that interventions targeting selfie behaviors on SNSs may be an effective way to prevent unhealthy exercise motivations, such as exercise for weight control, among young women with a low BMI.     

Embodied cognition: So flexible as to be “disembodied”?

This review aims to explore what I call the “Embodiment Cost Hypothesis” (ECH), according to which, when humans “embody” a part of the world other than their bodies, a measurable cost is detectable on their real bodies. The review analyzes experimental evidence in favor of the ECH by examining studies from different research fields, including studies of action observation (2), tool-use (3), rubber hand illusion (4), and full-body illusions (5). In light of this literature, this review argues that embodiment effects can profitably be seen as phenomena associated with both benefits (resulting from the embodiment of external objects/bodies) and costs (resulting from the disembodiment at various levels of the subject’s own body). Implications are discussed in relation to the ongoing debate on the embodied cognition (EC) approach.     

The interplay of predictive and postdictive components of experienced selfhood

Objects that we affect by our body movements can be experienced as being controlled by (agency) and belonging to the own body (ownership). Such impressions of minimal selfhood arise when objects move as predicted prior to the action (predictive component). But they can also arise when otherwise unpredictable object movements turn out to be consistent with (e.g. spatially compatible to) preceding actions (postdictive component). Here we studied how the impact of postdictive components of inferred minimal selfhood in terms of action-object compatibility is shaped by different levels of predictability of these object movements. We found that compatibility between actions and object movements, and to a lesser extent predictability of object movements, affected reported agency while only compatibility affected reported ownership. Importantly, predictive and postdictive factors influenced these measures in an independent manner. We discuss these results against the background of models that assume multiple components of experienced minimal selfhood.     

Intimate Partner Violence,Anger, and Abandonment Schema in Nonclinical Japanese Undergraduate Students

Intimate partner violence (IPV) among adolescents is on the rise. Although anger and the abandonment schema have been found to be risk factors for IPV perpetration, little is known about their interaction with different types of IPV (e.g., violent and restraint control behavior) based on a cognitive-behavioral perspective. In addition to examining these interactions, the present study also measured only the emotional aspect of anger, while previous studies measured anger as a multi-component construct. A total of 97 nonclinical Japanese undergraduate students participated in this study. Results indicated that people with a high degree of abandonment schema tended to use violent control behavior. On the other hand, restraint control behavior was likely to be used if people had a high degree of abandonment schema and anger. The results suggested that targeting anger and the abandonment schema may be important for treating and preventing IPV. The utility of a cognitive-behavioral perspective for the treatment and prevention of IPV perpetration is discussed.     

Impairment of the Body Image: Perceptions and Subjective Evaluations in Adolescents and Young Adults

The construction of body image consists of the ways in which the body is considered, perceived, and evaluated. The ideal body image has been changing considerably over the centuries; the discrepancy between real and ideal body, today, leads many individuals to be dissatisfied with their body, develop negative feelings, and, in some cases, unhealthy behaviors. All this has led, in recent decades, to a sort of cult of the body. As a matter of fact, in Western culture the body has turned into an idol, a strict and demanding god to which one often becomes a slave. This article presents a bibliographical review on the main theories concerning body image, thus opening a space for reflection on its relative disorders, first of all that of body dysmorphism.     

A structural equation model of intuitive eating with adolescents

IntroductionThe tendency to eat by paying attention and respecting the body's hunger and satiety cues is called intuitive eating. This eating behavior has been linked to positive health and well-being outcomes.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to test a global model linking intuitive eating with self-esteem, body esteem, media influence and including fear of negative appearance evaluation in adolescents’ boys and girls.MethodIn total, 740 adolescent high school students (51.5% girls; M age = 14, SD = 1.5) completed self-report questionnaires with measures of intuitive eating, body esteem, self-esteem, media influence and fear of negative appearance evaluation.ResultsStructural equation modeling revealed an overall excellent fit for the final four-variable model excluding the fear of negative appearance evaluation variable. Mediation analyses showed an indirect relationship between intuitive eating and body esteem via media influence, for girls but not for boys. Body esteem mediated the relationship between intuitive eating and self-esteem, for girls and boys.ConclusionA new model is proposed where intuitive eating is associated with self-esteem through body esteem and media influence. These findings suggest that regulating attitudes and behaviors toward food may be related to higher psychological well-being.