This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by McHugh, T.-L. F. Articles by Martin, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Young Women's Experiences of Social Physique Anxiety

College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, 87 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5B3, tara-leigh.fleming{at}usask.ca

Kent C. Kowalski

College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, 87 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5B3, kent.kowalski{at}usask.ca

Diane E. Mack

Department of Physical Education and Kinesiology, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines, ON, Canada, L2S 3A1, dmack{at}brocku.ca

Peter R.E. Crocker

School of Human Kinetics, University of British Columbia, 210 War Memorial Gym, 6081 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z1, peter.crocker{at}ubc.ca

Sarah E. Junkin

College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, 87 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5B3, sarah.junkin{at}usask.ca

Lisa K. Lejbak

Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Arts Building, Room 154, 9 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5A5, lisa.lejbak{at}usask.ca

Stephanie Martin

Educational Psychology and Special Education, College of Education, University of Saskatchewan, 28 Campus Dr., Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 0X1, stephanie.martin{at}usask.ca

It is well documented that young women's social physique anxiety is associated with a number of health-compromising behaviors. The bulk of this research has used the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS); however, the use of questionnaires in the body domain has been critiqued because of the assumption that women's experiences are singular and static. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to try to better understand young women's experiences of social physique anxiety. Feminist theory was used as a guiding perspective for this case study. Four young women participated (all 15 years old) and multiple methods (i.e. focus group, interviews, abstract photography task) were employed. The four themes developed were: (1) web of emotion; (2) uncertainty; (3) beyond physique; and (4) resignation. The stories of the young women suggest that their experiences are not easily reduced to this singular construct, and that, as a construct, social physique anxiety is limited in helping us to understand women's diverse experiences.

Key Words: adolescents • case study • feminist theory • qualitative

Feminism & Psychology, Vol. 18, No. 2, 231-252 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0959353507088593


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?