“Perfection is a Disease of a Nation, Pretty Hurts”: Creating a Model for Body Esteem in University and Community Populations

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between body esteem, perfectionism, and perceived sociocultural pressure in a Princeton University sample as well as a broader national sample. An extensive literature review of research on body esteem and its relation to these variables is provided. Both hypotheses of the study, namely that a) both perfectionism and perceived sociocultural pressure will predict body esteem in the aggregate sample, and b) the relationships between these variables will be distinct in each sub-sample, were confirmed. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that in the aggregate sample, both sociocultural pressure and two dimensions of perfectionism were significant predictors of body esteem. Though on average, neither sample had positive body esteem, based on the respective models it seems that the Princeton University sample has a greater number of and stronger negative associations between body esteem and other variables of interest. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.