Social Appearance Anxiety and Physical Self-Determination of Women

Abstract

Although there are some differences according to societies, women have existed as an object under the oppression of beauty and aesthetic elements, unlike their ideas, selves or personalities (Saad, 2012). In particular, maintaining the standards of physical charm has become an increasingly important issue. Data were collected by personal information form prepared by the researchers, Physical Self-Description Questionnaire-PSDQ and Social Apprearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS). As a result of the analyzes, there was a positive and low level relationship between SAAS and PSDQ's Appearance subscale. In the second problem of the study, an analysis was made regarding the prediction of PSDQ sub-dimensions with SAAS, and it was concluded that the appearance sub-dimension of PSDQ was a predictor of SAAS. As a result of the analysis conducted to examine the differences in physical self-description according to the status of participating physical activity, it was determined that the scores of those who participating physical activity were higher in the sub-dimensions of coordination, physical activity, body fat, general physical ability and self-confidence, than who did not. In the last sub-problem of the study, it was observed that there was no statistically significant difference in social appearance anxiety and physical self-perception of women according to the duration of physical activity. As a result, it was concluded that SAA and PSDQ appearance subscale were positively related in low-level, the same PSDQ's appearance sub-scale was the predictor of SAAS, and participation in physical activity was a factor causing PSDQ changes.