This study investigated the relationship between disorders of the body self and personality defence mechanisms of women with bulimia nervosa. It was hypothesized that women with bulimia nervosa would not form a homogeneous group in terms of the body self disorder and that the extent of this disorder would be signifi cantly related to personality functioning in terms of the defence styles adopted. The hypothesis was investigated with the aid of two questionnaires: the Body Self Questionnaire (Mirucka, 2005) and the Defence Style Questionnaire by Andrews, Singh and Bond (1993). 36 women aged between 15 and 25 years, who fulfi lled the DSM IV criteria for bulimia nervosa participated in the study. Conclusions from the study were that: (1) the body self of bulimic women is differentially disordered at three levels: profound, moderate and minimal. (2) the degree to which the body self was found to be disordered is signifi cant in psychological terms as it is related to the defence style adopted by the bulimic personality. The profound and moderate levels of body self disorder related to immature defence styles, while minimal levels of disruption to body self were associated with neurotic and mature styles.
This paper is a theoretical investigation of body identity. It is an attempt to deepen the analysis of body identity in its subjective aspect, which is framed as a constellation of complex identity senses: the sense of being, continuity of body self in time and space, inner consistency, separateness and bodily limits, as well as the senses of body ownership and agency. All the identified motives of body identity are regarded as pertaining to a special scope in the relationship with the body which produces the sense of body self, i.e., the sense of being an embodied subject. Ultimately, body identity is defined as a holistic and a higher order manner of experiencing one’s body self which anchors a human being in his/her subjectivity and uniqueness, thus complementing the individual and social aspect of identity.
Prezentowany artykuł jest próbą eksploracji struktury ja cielesnego kobiet z bulimią psychiczną. Przeprowadzone badania oparte zostały na holistycznym rozumieniu człowieka, w którym cielesność stanowi istotny element systemu Ja – fundament tożsamości i osobowości podmiotu. Według przyjętej definicji ja cielesne jest sposobem doświadczania siebie w swoim ciele wraz ze swoją płciowością (aspekt podmiotowy) oraz zbiorem konkretnych doświadczeń cielesnych – świadomych i nieświadomych – które odbijają się w obrazie ciała, jaki każdy podmiot posiada. Operacjonalizacją tak rozumianego pojęcia jest Kwestionariusz Ja Cielesnego, składający się z czterech skal – wymiarów ja cielesnego: (1) akceptacji cielesności, (2) przeżywania intymności z osobami płci przeciwnej, (3) eksponowania kobiecości oraz (4) stosunku do jedzenia i wagi ciała. Grupa 36 kobiet z bulimią psychiczną (zdiagnozowaną według DSM IV) w wieku 15-25 lat została przebadana tym kwestionariuszem. Uzyskane wyniki posłużyły do wydzielenia spośród nich trzech podgrup charakteryzujących się: głębokim (grupa A), umiarkowanym (grupa B) i nieznacznym zaburzeniem ja cielesnego.
EN
The aims of this article was to address the following questions: How do women with bulimia nervosa experience their own body? Which aspects of their bodily self are the basis of their identity and constitute essential elements of self structure? The study was conducted on 36 bulimic women, aged from 15 to 25, diagnosed according to DSM IV criteria for bulimia nervosa. The subjects were examined with the Body Self Questionnaire which consists of four scales (dimensions of the Body Self): acceptance of one’s body, disclosure of femininity, experience of intimate relations with persons of the opposite sex, and relationship towards eating and body weight. The conclusion from the study is: The body self of bulimic women is differentially disordered into three levels: profound, moderate and minimal.
The objective of the research presented in this paper was to investigate whether an association existed between the activation of the body schema and reaching adulthood among people in late adolescence. Three activities that are known to enjoy popularity among young people were analysed, namely: dancing, playing computer games that require motor involvement (e.g. Kinect), and playing computer games of an educational and entertaining character. It was assumed that the chosen forms of activity correspond to three levels of activation of the body schema. The following research methods have been applied to this study: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), the Defence Style Questionnaire (DSQ), and the Bodily Self Representation Questionnaire. The study has proven that the activation of body schema through dance is significantly related to high self-esteem and the use of mainly mature and neurotic defence mechanisms in threat situations.
The present study was the first to investigate the influence of artistic images of women on adolescent girls’ body attitude. The results have shown that a 10-minute exposure to artistic images of women by such great masters as Titian, Botticelli or Degas significantly changed body attitude in teenage girls, which was expressed through increased body satisfaction, decreased body dissatisfaction, and weakening of negative body emotion. Those outcomes have also confirmed the results of the existing studies exploring the negative influence of magazine advertising on teenage girls’ body experiencing. The comparison of two study groups has shown that girls looking at women in works of art expressed a significantly higher level of body satisfaction than girls exposed to women in advertisements.
This paper investigates the impact of state self-objectification on body image and tests the role of self-esteem in this relationship. The study group consisted of 136 adolescents from a junior high school in Poland, aged 14 to 16 years: 65 boys (Mage = 15; SD = 0.79) and 71 girls (Mage = 14.93; SD = 0.82). Both age groups were relatively homogeneous in terms of demography and BMI. The study consisted of three phases. First, the participants completed demographic measures assessing demographic variables, body image, and self-esteem. The second phase was conducted one week later to induce a temporary state of self-objectification by means of a magnifying mirror. The third phase followed a ten-minute experimental exposure by filling in the Self-Objectification State Questionnaire. A mediation analysis was performed separately in both adolescent groups, according to the approach proposed by Hayes and Preacher (2014). Self-esteem mediated significantly the relationship between state self-objectification and body image. In the group of girls the mediation model produced a complete effect, whereas in the group of boys the mediation effect was partial.
The presented study was intended to shed some new light on the disturbance of body experience in persons with schizophrenia in reference to the Embodied Subject Model. The model proposes to complement theoretical linkages between concepts related to bodiness – body self and mental representations of the body (body schema, body image, body awareness) and a relatively new concept of body identity. The main research questions were: Given that persons with schizophrenia are characterised by the painful experience of their body as an external object, would they also manifest i/ weakened sensorimotor integration mechanisms, ii/ disordered mental representations of the body, iii/ weakened sense of body ownership? 41 individuals with schizophrenia and 41 matched controls participated in the Rubber Hand Illusion procedure. Body representations were measured with a Battery of Tests of the Body Self Representations. The individuals with schizophrenia showed lower scores in three body representations and greater susceptibility to the rubber hand illusion. It suggests that the explanation of susceptibility to disturbances in the sense of body ownership should be focused on the deficient structure of mental representations of the body.
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