Body Image, Social Anxiety and Psychological Distress among Young Adults

For human beings, there is more important than judgment about self and this evaluation becomes the most definitive factor in the process of psychological development. One of the cases in which an individual deals with the judgment about himself/ herself is regarding their own body. Body image means a mental image which an individual has from his/her body and figure. Perceptual component for body image is that how we see our size, figure, and weight, face, movement and actions, while the viewing/ outlook parts are that how we feel regarding these features and how our feelings direct our behavior. The image which an individual has from self or ego appears in all of his/her valuing reactions implicitly Terms of “Body image” wasfirst given by Shilder as an image of our soma and body which we have made in our mind and manner of its appearance according our opinion. This definition includes both outlook and perception. Research on psychological factors that are related to body image, Izgiç, Akyüz, Dogcaron, and Kugcaron (2004) found that individuals who had suffered from a social phobia in the past were at high risk of suffering from lower body image. Cafri et al. [1] found that ‘internalising the thin idea’ meaningtaking on the board societal thin ideals as standards were key contributing factor of negative body image. Also, increased levels of social comparison, that is, an increased tendency to evaluate self by comparing to others is linked to an increased risk of low body image satisfaction. In a study that explored the interaction between parental and peer relationships with body image concern Holsen et al. [2] found that good quality relationships with parents and peers were associated with higher levels of body satisfaction. However, poor quality relationships with parents and peers were associated with lower body satisfaction. Several researchers highlight the importance of the role of parents to improve body image amongst young people. Fathers and mothers are able to influence body image in positive directions through words of encouragement and praise and negative directions through criticism [3]. Especially the case for girls [4].