Mele, S, Cazzato, V and Urgesi, C (2013) The importance of perceptual experience in the esthetic appreciation of the body. PLoS One, 8 (12). ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Several studies suggest that sociocultural models conveying extreme thinness as the widespread ideal of beauty exert an important influence on the perceptual and emotional representation of body image. The psychological mechanisms underlying such environmental influences, however, are unclear. Here, we utilized a perceptual adaptation paradigm to investigate how perceptual experience modulates body esthetic appreciation. We found that the liking judgments of round bodies increased or decreased after brief exposure to round or thin bodies, respectively. No change occurred in the liking judgments of thin bodies. The results suggest that perceptual experience may shape our esthetic appreciation to favor more familiar round body figures. Importantly, individuals with more deficits in interoceptive awareness were less prone to increase their liking ratings of round bodies after exposure, suggesting a specific risk factor for the susceptibility to the influence of the extreme thin vs. round body ideals of beauty portrayed by the media.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	MD Multidisciplinary
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Divisions:	Natural Sciences & Psychology (closed 31 Aug 19)
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
Related URLs:	http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24324689
Date Deposited:	07 Mar 2016 15:18
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 13:17
DOI or ID number:	10.1371/journal.pone.0081378
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/3095

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