Chapter 1
Introduction and Review of Literature
The past century has seen various developments in the area of body image.
Researchers and scholars from psychological, medical and sociological perspectives
have made numerous attempts to theorize and understand the human embodiment
experience of body image from various perspectives. Consequently, body image has
come to be viewed as multidimensional construct, encompassing concepts like body
esteem, body dissatisfaction, body image, weight misperceptions, body distortion, and
many more. Researchers expressed particular interest in body weight estimation and
perception. Weight perception and misperception has been found to be an important
determinant of body dissatisfaction.
The period of adolescence is characterized by major physical and psychological
changes, resulting in identity development and independence (Erikson, 1968; Cheung,
Ip, Lam, & Bibby, 2007). Researchers have found vulnerabilities in identity or selfconcept
during these formative years, predisposes the adolescent to body image
disturbances. The current study makes an attempt to understand the relationship
between these self-concept vulnerabilities, weight perceptions, and body shape
dissatisfaction.
The current chapter makes an attempt to elucidate the various theoretic perspectives
of body image along with various research findings on weight misperception, body
dissatisfaction, and the relationship of self-concept with these two variables.
1.1 A brief history of body image
Dating back to 1903, body image only focused on self-image of individuals with
mental retardation and brain damage. The neuropathological forms of body image
experience were the areas of interest like "phantom limb", "autotopagnosia",
"hemiasomatognosia," and "anosognosia" (Fisher, 1990). Interest in psychology and
sociology of body image only emerged with the works of Paul Schilder in the first
half of the 20th century. He described body image as "picture of our own body which,
