Autoconsciência da aparência e a adaptação no ensino superior: Estudo exploratório

José Carlos da Silva Mendes; Adriana Fraga; Carla Medeiros; Daniela Moniz; Luana Miranda; Teresa Medeiros

doi:10.31211/rpics.2018.4.2.76

Authors

José Carlos da Silva Mendes INTELECTO - Psicologia & Investigação, Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3612-5772
Adriana Fraga Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0093-1177
Carla Medeiros Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9389-3749
Daniela Moniz Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3063-0831
Luana Miranda Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7950-6036
Teresa Medeiros Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Açores; Instituto de Psicologia Cognitiva, Desenvolvimento Social e Humano da Faculdade de Psicologia da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2142-485X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31211/rpics.2018.4.2.76

Keywords:

Emerging Adulthood, Higher Education Adaptation, Self-consciousness of Appearance

Abstract

Background: Portuguese researchers have not devoted too much attention to Psychology of Appearance. Contemporary representations of the ideal body (thin, athletic, with defined muscles), widely disseminated by traditional media and by social media, often create dissatisfaction with appearance. Recent studies indicate that university students find themselves dissatisfied with their body image. Aim: To assess possible relationships between appearance concerns, especially self-consciousness of appearance, and adaptation to higher education by Portuguese students. Method: Exploratory and quantitative. Two hundred and six (206) students answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Portuguese short version of the Derriford Appearance Scale (DAS-14) and the Higher Education Adaptation Questionnaire (QAES). Results: There were significant differences in the DAS-14 between sexes; a moderate correlation between DAS-14 (self-consciousness of appearance) and personal and emotional adaptation; and weak relationships between self-consciousness of appearance and the remaining dimensions of QAES (interpersonal adaptation, institution adaptation, academic adaptation, commitment to the course, and career development). The self-consciousness of appearance presents itself as both a predictor variable and a response variable in the personal-emotional adaptation dimension. Conclusions: There seems to be a relationship between sex and self-consciousness of appearance: the lower the concentration of negative feelings around how the body looks the higher the adaptation to higher education along with social, cognitive and contextual dimensions. On the other hand, adaptation to higher education seems to influence the self- consciousness of appearance in emergent adults, with greater emphasis on personal-emotional adaptation. This study allows us to suggest future investigations in the evaluation of self-consciousness of appearance as a predictor variable.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Almeida, L. S., Guisande, M. A., Soares, A. P., & Saavedra, L. (2006). Acesso e sucesso no ensino superior em Portugal: Questões de género, origem sócio-cultural e percurso académico dos alunos [Access and success in higher education in Portugal: Issues of gender, sociocultural origin and students’ academic path]. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 19(3), 507–514. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Araújo, A. M., Almeida, L. S., Ferreira, J. A. G., Santos, A. A., Noronha, A. P., & Zanon, C. (2014). Questionário de Adaptação ao Ensino Superior (QAES): Construção e validação de um novo questionário [Adaptation to Higher Education Questionnaire (QAES): Construction and validation of a new questionnaire]. Psicologia, Educação e Cultura, 18(1), 131–145. [Google Scholar] [URL]

Araújo, A. M., Costa, A. R., Casanova, J. R., & Almeida, L. S. (2014). Questionário de Perceções Académicas - Expectativas: Contributos para a sua validação interna e externa [Academic Perceptions - Expectations Questionnaire: Contributions for internal and external validation]. Revista E-Psi, 1(4), 156–178. [Google Scholar] [URL]

Araújo, A. M., Santos, A. A., Noronha, A. P., Zanon, C., Ferreira, J. A., Casanova, J. R., & Almeida, L. S. (2016). Dificuldades antecipadas de adaptação ao ensino superior: Um estudo com alunos do primeiro ano [Anticipated adaptation difficulties to higer education: A study with first-year students]. Revista de Estudios e Investigación en Psicología y Educación, 3(2), 102-111. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Arnett, J. J. (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties (1st ed.). Oxford: University Press. [Google Scholar]

Behmani, R. K., & Kumar, S. (2016). Gender and locality differences in body image among college students. Indian Journal of Community Psychology, 12(1), 130–138. [Google Scholar] [URL]

Carr, T., Harris, D., & James, C. (2000). The Derriford Appearance Scale (DAS-59): A new scale to measure individual responses to living with problems of appearance. British Journal of Health Psychology, 5(2), 201–215. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Carr, T., Moss, T., & Harris, D. (2005). The DAS24: A short form of the Derriford Appearance Scale DAS59 to measure individual responses to living with problems of appearance. British Journal of Health Psychology, 10(2), 285–298. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Cash, T. F., & Pruzinsky, T. (2002). Body image: A handbook of theory, research, and clinical practice (1st ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press. [Google Scholar]

Cash, T. F. (2002). A «negative body image»: Evaluating epidemiological evidence. In T. F. Cash & T. Pruzinsky (Eds.), Body Image: A handbook of theory, research, and clinical practice (1st ed., pp. 269–276). New York, NY: Guilford Press. [Google Scholar]

Cash, T. F., & Smolak, L. (2011). Body Image: A handbook of science, practice, and prevention (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press. [Google Scholar]

Costa, A. R., Araújo, A. M., Diniz, A. M., & Almeida, L. S. (2014). Expetativas académicas segundo o género dos estudantes portugueses do primeiro ano do ensino superior [Academic expectations according to the gender of first-year Portuguese students]. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology, 2(1), 325–334. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Deaño, M. D., Gil, S. A., Rodríguez, Á. C., García-Señorán, M., & González, F. T. (2014). Expectativas universitarias y predicción del rendimiento académico [University expectations and academic performance prediction]. Revista E-Psi, 1(4), 127–141. [Google Scholar] [PDF]

Espírito-Santo, H., & Daniel, F. (2015). Calcular e apresentar tamanhos do efeito em trabalhos científicos (1): As limitações do p < 0,05 na análise de diferenças de médias de dois grupos [Calculating and reporting effect sizes on scientific papers (1): p < 0.05 limitations in the analysis of mean differences of two groups]. Revista Portuguesa de Investigação Comportamental e Social, 1(1), 3–16. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Fardouly, J., Pinkus, R. T., & Vartanian, L. R. (2017). The impact of appearance comparisons made through social media, traditional media, and in person in women’s everyday lives. Body Image, 20, 31–39. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Freitas, H. C. N. M., Raposo, N. A. V., & Almeida, L. S. (2007). Adaptação do estudante ao ensino superior e rendimento académico: Um estudo com estudantes do primeiro ano de enfermagem [Student adaptation to higher education and academic performance: A study with first-year nursing students]. Revista Portuguesa de Pedagogia, 41(1), 179–188. [Google Scholar] [URL]

Garcia, A., Macedo, M. D. C., & Nunes, T. A. (2013). Relações interpessoais e saúde [Interpersonal relations and health] (1st ed.). Vitória: UFES. [Google Scholar]

Latiff, A. A., Muhamad, J., & Rahman, R. A. (2018). Body image dissatisfaction and its determinants among young primary-school adolescents. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 13(1), 34–41. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Lopes, M. S., Mendes, R. C. P. R., & Sousa, S. M. N. (2017). Ser mulher: Uma análise da imagem corporal entre adolescentes [Being a woman: An analysis of body image among adolescents]. Revista Espacios, 38(29). [Google Scholar] [PDF]

MacKenzie, K. (2012). An examination of coping strategies and mindfulness as predictors of appearance satisfaction and body image. (Master’s thesis). [Google Scholar] [URL]

Marôco, J. (2010). Análise estatística com o PASW Statistics (ex-SPSS) [Statistical analysis with PASW Statistics (ex-SPSS)]. Lisboa: ReportNumber. [Google Scholar]

Martins, D. F., Nunes, M. F. O., & Noronha, A. P. P. (2008). Satisfação com a imagem corporal e autoconceito em adolescentes [Satisfaction with body image and self-concept in adolescents]. Psicologia: Teoria e Prática, 10(2), 94–105. [Google Scholar]

Medeiros, T., Cunha, A., Lima, C., Ponte, V., Furtado, S., & Mendes, J. C. S. (2018). Imagem corporal positiva em adultos emergentes: Um estudo em contexto universitário [Positive body image in emergente adults: A study in university context] (pp. 813–821). In Actas do 12º Congresso Nacional de Psicologia da Saúde. Lisboa: ISPA - Instituto Universitário. [Google Scholar]

Mendes, J., & Pereira, V. (2018). Versão portuguesa reduzida da Escala de Avaliação da Aparência de Derriford (DAS-14): Análise fatorial exploratória e confirmatória [Reduced Portuguese version of the Derriford Appearance Rating Scale (DAS-14): Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis]. Revista Portuguesa de Investigação Comportamental e Social, 4(2), 23-30. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Moliner, P. (2016). Psychologie sociale de l’image [Social psychology of the image]. Fontaine: PUG. [Google Scholar]

Moss, T. P., & Rosser, B. A. (2012). The moderated relationship of appearance valence on appearance self-consciousness: Development and testing of new measures of appearance schema components. PLoS ONE, 7(11), e50605. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Nunes, S. M., & Garcia, A. R. (2010). Estudantes do ensino superior: As relações pessoais e interpessoais nas vivências académicas [Higher education students: Personal and interpersonal relationships in academic experiences]. Gestin: Revista Científica da Escola Superior de Gestão, 8(8), 195–203. [Google Scholar] [URL]

Rodrigues, D., Teves, C., & Medeiros, T. (2013). Autoimagem e satisfação corporal na adolescência [Self-image and body satisfaction in adolescence]. In T. Medeiros (Coord.), Adolescência: Desafios e riscos (Chapter 8; pp. 183-208). Ponta Delgada: Letras Lavadas. [Google Scholar]

Rumsey, N., & Harcourt, D. (2012). The Oxford handbook of the psychology of appearance. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]

Santos, O. S., & Silva, A. (2017). Corpo, deficiência e representações [Body, disability and representations]. Revista Educação e Cultura Contemporânea, 14(37), 446–464. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Smolak, L. (2012). Appearance in childhood and adolescence. In N. Rumsey & D. Harcourt (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of the psychology of appearance (pp. 123-141). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]

Souza, A. C., & Alvarenga, M. S. (2016). Insatisfação com a imagem corporal em estudantes universitários – Uma revisão integrativa [Body dissatisfaction among university students – An integrative review]. Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria, 65(3), 286–299. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Tiggemann, M. (2015). Considerations of positive body image across various social identities and special populations. Body Image, 14, 168–176. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Tomás, R. A., Ferreira, J. A., Araújo, A. M., & Almeida, L. S. (2014). Adaptação pessoal e emocional em contexto universitário: O Contributo da personalidade, suporte social e inteligência emocional [Personal and emotional adaptation in University’s environment: Contribution of personality, social support and emotional intelligence]. Revista Portuguesa de Pedagogia, 48(2), 87–107. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

Vieira, E. T., & Grantham, S. (2011). University students setting goals in the context of autonomy, self‐efficacy and important goal‐related task engagement. Educational Psychology, 31(2), 141–156. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]