Through the Looking Glass
Procedure
Upon Entry, Participants were presented with the Franzoi and Sheild's Body Esteem Scale (Figure 1). They were asked to rate each element listed with a number from the 5 point likert scale defined at the top of Figure 1. As you can see, the lower numbers signify a lower level of satisfaction.
Figure 1
Participants were then presented with a demographic questionnaire that also contained a series of Body Mass Index (BMI) based images, and asked to select two images. Please scroll down for more detail. Figure 2 shows the male version, while Figure 3 shows the female version.
Figure 2
Figure 3
For the sake of clarity, let's walk through this example together.
Question #1) Out of the images given, select the body that looks most like you. This question is calculated as the participants SELF image, as in self selected.
Participant answers: Body # 6
Question #2) Which of the bodies do you feel like on most days? This question is calculated as the participants FEEL image.
Participant answers: Body #7
From here, the participant would have been weighed and measured, in order to obtain their correct BMI. In this example the participant weighed 156 lbs, and measured 5 ft. 5.5 in. tall, for a BMI of 25.6. Now that the participants BMI has been calculated, their ACTUAL image must be found. A BMI of 25.6 corresponds to Body #4, based on the standardized scale provided at the top of Figure 3.
​We have now obtained the participants SELF, FEEL, and ACTUAL images, and can now calculated difference scores. Four difference scores were obtained.
1) Actual-Self (4-6= -2) This score indicates whether the participant's image is distorted or not. Negative numbers, like in this example, signify dissatisfaction. Positive numbers would show over confidence, and a zero would indicate that no distortion is present.
2) IActual-SelfI (I4-6I=2) This score simply shows accuracy of selection. A number, that is not zero, indicates inaccuracy. Since the absolute value is taken, we cannot say if these numbers represent high or low levels of satisfaction, that is what the directional scores are used for.
3) Actual-Feel (4-7= -3) This difference score, addresses hypothesis number 2, and indicates discrepancies between how the participant feels on a day to day basis compared to their actual image. Again, negative numbers would indicate a lower level of satisfaction.
4) IActual-FeelI (I4-7I= 3) Just like the absolute value of Actual-Self, this score shows inaccuracy. All numbers, that are not zero, show a discrepancy in the participants selected feel image versus their actual image. Since the absolute value is taken, the numbers do not represent high or low levels of satisfaction, as they do in the directional difference scores.