College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Body Positivity for Asian Americans: Development and Evaluation of the Pride in Asian American Appearance Scale (PAAAS)(2021) Le, Thomas Phong; Iwamoto, Derek K; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)While a growing body of literature has examined factors that contribute to Asian Americans’ negative body image, little research has investigated Asian Americans’ body image from a strengths-based perspective. This study thus presents the Pride in Asian American Appearance Scale (PAAAS), which was designed to measure the extent to which Asian Americans feel positively about their own racialized physical appearances as well as those of fellow Asian Americans. Items were developed through an extensive literature review, cognitive interviews, and expert feedback. Exploratory (N = 398) and confirmatory (N = 398) factor analyses suggested a 4-factor structure and produced a 25-item scale with the following subscales: (a) Pride in Asian Features, (b) Preference for Asian American Appearance, (c) Asian Americans as Desirable, and (d) Action Promoting Asians’ Attractiveness. Internal consistency estimates as well as factor determinacies were high and demonstrated that the specified items adequately represented their intended factors. The PAAAS was significantly correlated in theoretically expected directions with internalized racism, collective self-esteem, and psychological distress. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.Item Body image experiences among Asian American women: A qualitative intersectionality framework(2016) Brady, Jennifer; Iwamoto, Derek K; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Body image concerns are a growing issue among Asian American young adult women and evidence suggests that they experience distinct sociocultural stressors that might heighten risk. This study advanced knowledge through a Grounded Theory qualitative approach and explored the unique experiences of oppression among Asian American undergraduate women (N=20) that influence body image dissatisfaction. Participants completed a one hour semi-structured interview describing their socialization experiences; gender and racial identity development; feelings and thoughts about their bodies; beliefs of Western and cultural beauty norms; and body image management strategies. The core category Body Image was comprised of attitudes and perceptions about body weight, shape, and size, facial features (e.g. eye size) and skin complexion/tone. Numerous contextual, interpersonal, and identity conditions, emerged to produce a range of positive and negative body image beliefs. Results can advance etiological understanding of prominent sociocultural factors that may attenuate or heighten risk for body image concerns.Item Women Counselors' Countertransference Reactions to Women Clients with Body Image Disturbance(2006-04-25) Doschek, Elizabeth E.; Gelso, Charles J.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Women may seek counseling for body image concerns because such concerns are common in society. Women counselors may also suffer from body image disturbance, however. Countertransference is a threat to a counselor's ability to help a client and occurs when client presenting style and/or problem taps into unresolved counselor issues. Women counselors' countertransference reactions to women clients with body image concerns were investigated in light of counselors' body image concerns and client physique in an audiovisual analogue counseling session. Counselors interacted with a video of a woman client discussing body image concerns. Client physique was manipulated such that counselors saw either a client whose physique was close to or far from the societal ideal. No significant relationships were found between the two independent variables (counselor body image disturbance and client physique) and countertransference. The nonsignificant findings are discussed in the context of the low body image disturbance in the sample.