FIELD-DEPENDENCE AND PERCEPTUAL, COGNITIVE, AND AFFECTIVE MEASURES OF BODY-IMAGE IN ASYMPTOMATIC COLLEGE-STUDENTS

The relationship of field dependence/independence (FD/FI) and gender to perceptual, cognitive, and affective measures of body image distortion (BID) was investigated in a nonclinical population. Both genders perceived themselves to be larger than they actually are, suggesting that men generally possess a flattering body image and women an unflattering one. Supporting this view were the differing cognitions of men and women about the normalcy of their size and men's greater satisfaction with their body. The magnitude and direction of BID varied with the centrality of body part to body image. FD men judged the upper torso to be smaller, and FD, and to a lesser extent FI, women judged the lower torso to be larger than normal. Women generally magnified the Other's lower torso as much as the Self's. FI men rated the upper torso of Self and Other as being equally larger than normal; FD men, while rating their own upper torso as smaller than normal, inflated the size of the Other more than did FI men. The difference in motivation underlying BID of men and women is considered.