The Role of Body Shaming on Students’ Self-Esteem at University Level

Ayesha Naseem; Hina  Munir; Khadeeja

doi:10.61503/cissmp.v5i1.411

Authors

Ayesha Naseem M.Phil. Scholar, Department of Education, The Women University, Multan
Hina Munir Assistant Professor, Department of Education, The Women University, Multan
Khadeeja M.Phil Scholar, Department of Applied Psychology, The Women University, Multan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61503/cissmp.v5i1.411

Keywords:

Body shaming, Self-esteem, Prevalence, Fat shaming, Thin shaming, Skin shaming, Hair shaming, University

Abstract

Body shaming is a worldwide issue which is increasing rapidly in young adults due to the emergence of social media trends and cultural beauty norms. Body shaming affects the overall mental health of students including self-esteem. This research aims to study the prevalence of body shaming, to examine the role of body shaming on students’ self-esteem, to examine the forms of body shaming, and to study the prevalence of body shaming with respect to demographic variables. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 410 students from 3 public universities of Multan through convenient sampling technique. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The conclusions drawn from the result revealed significant positive relationships among prevalence of body shaming, it’s various forms, and overall body shaming. Moreover, prevalence of body shaming significantly negatively predicts self-esteem. Similarly, fat/thin shaming also emerged as a significant negative predictor of self-esteem. Skin shaming was found to be a significant but weaker negative predictor of self-esteem, whereas hair shaming did not significantly predict self-esteem.