여중생의 신체인식과 실제체형과의 관계

The Relation between the Body Perception and the Body size on Middle School Girl

The purpose of this study was to examine the body perception and its relationship with actual body size in middle school girls and obtain basic materials on the body image of the girls. Actual measurement and a questionnaire survey were conducted in middle school girls residing in Gwangju City. 218 questionnaires were used for data processing and the results were obtained by SPSS/WIN 12.0 Package. The results were summarized as follows: 1. Middle school girls showed high consciousness and low satisfaction in the lower half of the body including the thickness of legs, the bottom, and a wasp waist and were conscious that their bodies were nearly average in girth, thickness, and length. The highly perceived body parts were found to have low satisfaction, which suggested the negative body perception. The characteristics of low satisfied body items were the perception of short length or thick girth. 2. Middle school students divided their bodies into the breast(including proportion), legs, waist-hip, face size(including obesity index), and shoulder in body consciousness. They divided their bodies into the breast, shoulder-face, BMI, waist-hip, legs(including proportion), and height in body satisfaction. Then these were integrated into close parts and perceived or felt satisfaction: the upper half of the body, the lower half of the body, face and shoulder, and the whole body. Also, middle school girls separated their bodies into length, shape, girth, and weight in body perception and into the upper and lower half of the body in obesity characteristics, and separated the breast from the upper half of the body. 3. The slim group had lower body consciousness and higher satisfaction than other groups and perceived that their bodies were longer, smaller, or slimmer than their actual body size. On the other hand, the obese group had higher body consciousness and lower satisfaction than other groups and perceived that their bodies were shorter, thicker, or bigger than their actual body size. The slim group perceived their size and girth of the breast small and slim and showed low satisfaction. On the other hand, the obese group perceived their breasts big and showed average satisfaction but lower consciousness than other body parts. The obese group showed high consciousness and low satisfaction with abdomen, the upper arm, and leg length.