Body Dissatisfaction and Coping Strategies: An Exploration in Young Adult Indian Women

Body Dissatisfaction and Coping Strategies: An exploration in young adult Indian women

The present study made an attempt to explore the specific coping strategies used by the young women in the contemporary Indian society to deal with their body dissatisfaction. Besides it also addressed how adoption of these strategies varied across the marital status of these women. Qualitative approach provided a sound backdrop against which to describe the personal experiences and expressions of the participants. A sample of 25 females in the age range of 26-30 years (married n=13, unmarried n=12) belonging to upper middle class and having no physical anomaly were interviewed. Content analysis of the data resulted in emergence of two major categories labeled as behavioral and cognitive strategies. Commonly reported behavioral strategies comprised- appearance management including cover up strategies, social support, physical activity, eating and behavioral avoidance. Cognitive strategies were- avoidance, justifications for appearance related flaws, and downward comparison to others. In addition comparison across marital status revealed that both married as well as unmarried participants focused more on the cognitive strategies like indulging in rationalization, cognitive avoidance and reflecting on other aspects of one's body. As regards the behavioral strategies, emphasis was more on yoga, balanced diet and social support which was sought by the family members in both the groups, though target group for unmarried was parents, for married it was their husbands. The emerging themes had been defined and verbatim were provided as illustrations. The findings were discussed in the context of the Indian cultural milieu. Potential limitations and further directions of the study were also discussed.