• April 29, 2024

How true is it that attractive people are treated better and / or more popular? At present, there is a "fashion" that indicates that a body image of thinness in women, and muscle and strength in men, is synonymous with beauty, health and success.

These aspects are related to body image (mental representation of our body), subjective variable that sometimes has little to do with reality, but exerts a great influence on attitudes, emotions, affection and behavior.

If you do not accept you run risk ...

Gilda Gómez Pérez, specialist of the Faculty of Psychology of the UNAM, He said that one of the problems related to body image, considered a high risk factor in the development and maintenance of eating disorders, is body dissatisfaction (shape and size of the body).

He commented that contrary to the maxim of "never judge a book by its cover", but consistent with the sociocultural perspective, attractive people are perceived by the halo effect (where the generalization of an attribute considered desirable is granted to all the characteristics of a person).

This, he added, can have an impact on greater occupational competence in adults or academics in children, as well as better interpersonal and social relationships, which are not enjoyed by their non-attractive counterparts. That is, not only is he judged better, but he is also treated better.

The researcher pointed out that the influence of the media is crucial in the current concern for the body. "It has been hypothesized that people develop an active internal adherence and a relationship with the symbols of culture that are continuously presented through television and other media."

Stereotypes imposed

In this regard, he explained that it was advertising that first allowed women, and then men, to compare themselves with others, suggesting how they should be to be attractive and desirable, making it almost impossible for children to escape from the ever present influence of the media.

However, the academic stressed that the media do not cause the Eating Disorders , but they do intensify the worry about weight and food.

Of course, the internalization of the beauty ideal of a slim body or an athletic or muscular body is one of the risk factors of such disorders. Therefore, the most important thing is to be comfortable with your own body image and privilege health, not physical appearance.

Video Medicine: Risk. (April 2024).