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Chapter 5 - The Ideal of the Perfect Body

Appearance Anxiety, Excessive Exercising, and Use of Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drugs

from Section 1 - From Exercise to Addiction: An Introduction to the Phenomenon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2023

By
Artemisa Rocha Dores  and
Irene P. Carvalho
Edited by
Ornella Corazza  and
Artemisa Rocha Dores
Ornella Corazza
Affiliation:
University of Hertfordshire and University of Trento, Italy
Artemisa Rocha Dores
Affiliation:
Polytechnic Institute of Porto and University of Porto, Portugal
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Summary

Sociocultural theories of body image propose that different societies have different conceptions of the ideal body shape. Within contemporary Westernized cultures, advertisements, the Internet, and social media networks promote particular assumptions about what constitutes the ‘ideal’ body, and thus exert a strong social pressure to achieve such a body shape. Individuals go to great lengths to achieve and maintain a body image that corresponds to these archetypes of ‘beauty’, which are reinforced as having a superior social value. Such social ideals of beauty are often entirely unrealistic, and can result in body dissatisfaction, appearance anxiety, body image disorder, low self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. Attempts to attain the ideal body can lead to excessive behaviours, such as compulsive exercising, the use of image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs), and eating disorders. This chapter focuses on excessive exercising and the use of IPEDs, and how these behaviours relate to distress about body image.

Keywords

appearance anxietybody dysmorphic disorderbody imageexcessive exercisingexercise addictionimage- and performance-enhancing drugsself-esteemsociocultural theoriesstandards of beautysupplements
Type
Chapter
Information
The Body in the Mind
Exercise Addiction, Body Image and the Use of Enhancement Drugs
 , pp. 77 - 92
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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