Appearance comparisons and adaptive coping behaviors : the moderating roles of self-compassion and self-consciousness

Abstract

The tendency to compare one’s appearance with others is usually associated with negative body image and disordered eating. However, the relationship between appearance comparisons and adaptive coping behaviors, as well as the underlying personal factors remain unexplored. While self-compassion is emerging as a protective factor, and self-consciousness is considered as a risk factor for body-related concerns and maladaptive coping, this study therefore examined the moderating roles of these two factors in the associations between appearance comparisons and two adaptive behaviors, exercise and intuitive eating. In a sample of adult females (N = 110), the inverse linkage between appearance comparisons and intuitive eating was diminished at medium to high levels of self-compassion and low levels of social anxiety aspect of self-consciousness. The relationship between appearance comparisons and exercise behavior was not moderated by self-compassion and self-consciousness. Lacking self-compassion and possessing great social anxiety may lead women to eat less adaptively when they frequently compare their appearance with others. The findings indicated that cultivating self-compassion and reducing social anxiety alone may not be enough to encourage more adaptive behaviors, that promoting those behaviors as better strategies to manage body-related thoughts and improve appearance may also be crucial.