Relational Body Identities: Body Image Control Through Self-Portraits – A Revision of the Body Image Control in Photos Questionnaire

Background

The identity construction is a personal and psychological process that involves body indwelling and, profoundly, the connection with primary emotional and relational experiences. At the same time, it represents a public process involving both the individual ‘‘identity announcement” and the ‘‘identity placement” provided by the others, who endorse the claimed identity (Stone, 1981). Certainly, the identity construction and the new body integration represent phase-specific developmental tasks during the adolescence (Zhao, Grasmuck, & Martin, 2008). On one hand, body transformations require such a kind of process; on the other hand, the experience of who I am is deeply related to the way I look and to the group I belong to, as they suggest what the other see and reflect about me. As a result, one’s own body image is strongly influenced by self-esteem and self-evaluation, and strictly linked to the evaluation provided by the others. Moreover, it can be powerfully affected by cultural messages and societal/media standards of appearance and attractiveness. For this reason, research investigating the process of identity construction in adolescence is increasingly exploring the Internet environment (Pelosi, Zorzi & Corsano, 2014), which constitutes a key context for interpersonal relationships and self-presentation.