How Well Do You Get On With Your Body?
Positive body image is not the absence of complaints - it is something you can actually have
For decades, body image research only measured the problem: how dissatisfied people were. Then researchers noticed that someone can have no particular complaints about their body and still feel no respect or warmth towards it, and that the opposite, liking a body you would not call perfect, is common and protective. This test measures that positive side: how you regard your body, how much you value what it does, and how broad your idea of beauty is.
Before you start There are no right answers. Pick what is usually true for you, not what sounds best.
Answer about how you usually feel, not about your best or worst day. There are no right answers, and nothing here asks about weight or food.
What it measures
Body appreciation - respect, acceptance and care for your body as it is - plus two related parts of positive body image: valuing what your body does, and seeing beauty in many kinds of people. It is not self-esteem, which is about you as a whole, and not self-compassion, which is about how you treat your failures.
Based on: Body Appreciation Scale-2 (Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015)
Possible results
Body appreciation
Respect, acceptance and care for your body as it is now.
Valuing what it does
Appreciating your body for what it lets you do, not how it looks.
Broad idea of beauty
Seeing beauty in many different looks, bodies and qualities.
Common questions
Is body appreciation the same as loving how you look?
No, and that is one of the main findings of this research. Body appreciation includes respecting and caring for a body you do not find perfect, and people can score high while still wishing some things were different. It is closer to being on good terms with your body than to admiring it.
How is this different from self-esteem?
The two are related but not the same. Self-esteem is how you regard yourself as a person; body appreciation is specifically how you regard and treat your body. Plenty of people feel capable and worthwhile while being at odds with their body, and the reverse also happens. Quinthea has a separate self-esteem test.
Can body appreciation be improved?
Yes, and it is one of the more encouraging areas of the research. Short exercises focused on what the body does, and less time spent comparing yourself with edited images, have both been linked to gains. None of it requires changing your appearance, which is the point: appreciation moves on its own track.
Sources
- Tylka, T. L., & Wood-Barcalow, N. L. (2015). The Body Appreciation Scale-2: Item refinement and psychometric evaluation. Body Image. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.09.006
- Alleva, J. M., Tylka, T. L., & Kroon Van Diest, A. M. (2017). The Functionality Appreciation Scale (FAS): Development and psychometric evaluation in U.S. community women and men. Body Image. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.07.008
- Tylka, T. L., & Iannantuono, A. C. (2016). Perceiving beauty in all women: Psychometric evaluation of the Broad Conceptualization of Beauty Scale. Body Image. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.02.005
An honest note The items are Quinthea's own wording adapted from the Body Appreciation Scale-2, so scores are not comparable to its norms. Only the first bar corresponds to that scale; the other two are related constructs from separate scales, and the beauty scale was developed with women only. This is not an eating-disorder screen or any diagnosis. If thoughts about food, weight or your body take up much of your day or cause distress, talk to a doctor or psychologist.