Heightened body surveillance can have negative effects on physical and psychological well-being, but little is known about the factors that contribute to this chronic surveillance. The authors tested a model that examined whether staking self-worth in certain domains was associated with decreased or increased body surveillance and appearance satisfaction in a sample of 115 Black and 222 White college women. Results indicated that investing self-worth in appearance and approval from others was associated with increased body surveillance and reduced appearance satisfaction whereas self-worth based in academic competence, God’s love, and family support was associated with less body surveillance and more appearance satisfaction. Tests of racial differences revealed that our model operated similarly across race. However, the structural paths of appearance contingency to body surveillance, academic competence contingency to body surveillance, and family support contingency to appearance satisfaction were stronger for White than Black women. This work outlines potential strategies to counteract body surveillance and appearance dissatisfaction by emphasizing domains of self-worth that are not appearance based and are staked in love and support. Implications of these findings for building positive body esteem and reducing disordered eating symptomatology are also discussed.
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