Body Image: Perceptions, Interpretations & Attitudes

Body image is considered a multi-dimensional concept that includes perceptual, attitudinal, affective, and behavioural dimensions. The definition of body image is the mental picture we have in our minds of the size, shape and form of our bodies and our feelings concerning these characteristics and one’s body parts. This book presents topical research data from across the globe in the study of body image, including understanding body image instability and distortion; body image and cancer patients; the advertising media and its contribution to body image problems and dysfunctional eating; alexithymia, body image and eating disorders; sociocultural influences on male body image; body image research in people of African descent; and body image measurement in exercise research, in women with physical disabilities, and in patients undergoing plastic surgery.