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Positive Body Affirmations and Global Self-Esteem
Running head: POSITIVE BODY AFFIRMATIONS AND GLOBAL SELF-ESTEEM
The Effectiveness of Positive Body Affirmations
on Global Self-Esteem
Shontol Torres Burkhalter, Raquel Antoinette Gabbitas,
and Kareen Limansky
Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah
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Positive Body Affirmations and Global Self-Esteem
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Abstract
This study examines how self affirmations may improve body image and global selfesteem in young adult females. Global self esteem is a combination of an individual’s
positive and negative views of oneself, and is a more holistic way of approaching self
esteem (Rosenberg, Scholler, Schoenbach, 1995, 141). The way a young woman feels
about her body is more important than other domains contained within global self-esteem
which include: academics, athletics, and popularity (Harter, 1986). To examine factors
that may influence body image, two groups, one experimental and one control, of youngadult women, ages 18-25, participated in a 21 day study that measured the effectiveness
of body image affirmations on global self-esteem. In this study, it was hypothesized that
positive body image affirmations would affect a woman’s body image positively, and in
turn improve her global self-esteem. However, the results showed no statistical
difference between the experimental and control group demonstrating that other factors
outside of affirmations need to be taken into consideration in order to improve body
image.
Positive Body Affirmations and Global Self-Esteem
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The Effectiveness of Positive Body Affirmations
on Global Self-Esteem
Self affirmations appear commonly in books about improving one’s life. While
these books have found a home in popular culture, little research has been conducted to
measure the validity or effectiveness of self affirmations. There have been research
articles on self affirmations, including one that describes how self affirmations are used
among long-term dialysis survivors (Curtin, Mapes, Petillo, Oberley, 2002). However, in
reviewing the literature it has been difficult to find a concrete definition for selfaffirmations.
The goal of self-affirmations, as defined by Claude M. Steele (1988), is to
maintain an overall perception of self-adequacy despite things that may threaten this
perception. Based on the assumption that the goal of self-affirmations is to gain global
self-adequacy, it is implied that to offset a threat to self-adequacy, one must affirm a selfimage that supports this adequacy as much as the threat threatens it. This is relevant to
this study because affirmations could potentially negate the harm of poor body image, a
direct threat to global self-esteem.
The self-system has been described by theorists in many different terms such as:
self-seeking and self-preservation. In the literature it has been recognized that the
concept of the self and body image is important. A motive to affirm the self after the self
has been threatened is an inherent and important part of the self-system (Steele 1988).
Threatened body image in young adult females is a common problem in American
Positive Body Affirmations and Global Self-Esteem
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society (Harris, 1995; Mintz & Betz, 1988, Cash & Henry, 1995; Garner,1997) and plays
a crucial role in self-esteem (Harter, 1986). Poor self-esteem is associated with
depression, heightened anxiety and the development of maladaptive eating behaviors and
dieting (Denniston, Roth, & Gilroy, 1992). More research needs to be done to examine
the relationship between self-affirmations and body image, and to see if affirmations can
affirm the self-system.
The current study focused on the development of positive global self-esteem in
young adult women, ages 18-25. Self-esteem refers most generally to an individual’s
overall positive evaluation of the self (Gecas 1982; Rosenberg 1990; Rosenberg et al.
1995). It is composed of two distinct dimensions, competence and worth (Gecas 1982;
Gecas and Schwalbe 1983). The competence dimension (efficacy-based self-esteem)
refers to the degree to which people see themselves as capable and efficacious. The
worth dimension (worth-based self-esteem) refers to the degree to which individuals feel
they are persons of value (Cast, Burke, 2002). The term, global self-esteem, is the
individual’s positive or negative attitude toward the self as a totality”(Rosenburg,
Scholler, Schoenbach, Rosenburg, 1995, 141). Global self-esteem also encompasses the
Contingencies of Self Worth: academics, appearance, approval from others, God’s Love,
competition, family support, and virtue. Of these contingencies, our study chose to focus
on the importance of appearance.
Previous research has studied the development of self-esteem, but there still
remains little quantitative data that explores the direct relationship between body image
and self affirmations in young adult women, ages 18-25. Studies have shown that
physical appearance among adolescents is the strongest predictor of global self-esteem
Positive Body Affirmations and Global Self-Esteem
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for both boys and girls (Harter, 1986). It is stronger than in evaluations in other domains
such as academics, athletics, or popularity (Harter, 1986). Researchers have suggested a
variety of strategies to improve body image such as programs that focus on positive
health behaviors; these programs may help influence higher self-esteem and subsequently
a more positive body image (Lowery, Kurpius, Befort, Blanks, Sollenberger et al.) The
current study will test the effectiveness of repeating positive body affirmations for 21
days, by examining both the control and experimental group’s pre- and post- self esteem
surveys.
Methods
Participants
The research participants were recruited from two college campuses in Salt Lake
City, Utah. These college campuses include Westminster College and the University of
Utah. Young adult women between the ages of 18-25 were randomly selected from
summer classes at both institutions. The women were approached by the three researchers
asking for their participation in the project. They were told that they would be
participating in an activity that examined women’s attitudes regarding exercise. The real
purpose of the study was not revealed until the post-surveys were completed.
Procedure
The women filled out a sheet which asked for their names, ages, phone numbers,
and e-mail addresses. A consent form was also signed. In order to encourage the women
to continuously and consistently participate in our program, they were told that they
Positive Body Affirmations and Global Self-Esteem
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would be entered into drawings for prizes. Local businesses contributed gift certificates
to be used as incentives for the women to participate. In addition, necessary deception
was used in order to obtain more genuine results.
The study facilitated a computer WebCT program. Accessible through the
internet, this program contained date sensitive pre- and post- self-esteem surveys, as well
as a compilation of self affirmations and sports sentences. Two separate sites were
created on WebCT for the purpose of keeping track of the women’s participation. The
control group was assigned to the McNair Research Group 2006-2007. The experimental
group was assigned to the McNair Research Group 2006-2007 version two. To get to
either site the participants would enter the Westminster College website, click on the
WebCT link, and then log onto WebCT using a login number and password. Each login
name started at m102 and ended at m140. The passwords started at mc102 and ended at
mc140. An initial email was sent to each participant with their individual log in and
password as well as a link to the WebCT internet site. After assignments were given, all
emails were erased to ensure the privacy of the participants.
Once logged onto the website, the participants were asked to fill out a pre-survey
that measured their initial self-esteem. After the affirmations were completed, 21 days
later, a post-survey was given. Both surveys were compiled from the Rosenberg SelfEsteem scale, Contingencies of Self Worth scale and Harter scale. Only questions relating
to body image were used.
Before these surveys were given to the two groups of women, each was piloted in
two Westminster College classes to ensure they effectively measured self-esteem. After
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the pilot survey questions were answered, the questions and results were analyzed and
found to effectively measure self esteem.
The research participants were divided into two groups by the researchers. Half
were assigned to the experimental group and the other half were assigned to the control
group. The participants in both groups logged onto a computer of their choice daily for a
21 day period. They had a 24 hour time period to complete each daily affirmation before
the following day’s affirmation was made available.
The control group typed four sentences describing random sports
accomplishments by male athletes that appeared on the screen. The first sentence would
appear with a box beneath it to type in. Once it was typed, the next sentence would
appear. This occurred until all four sentences were typed. Sports sentences regarding
male athletes were chosen in order to disassociate the women from the sentences. The
sport sentences were compiled and simplified from various internet sports web sites. It
was decided that female athletes be excluded in the hopes that participants would not be
able to relate to the male athletes as well. (Refer to Table One for more information.)
The experimental group typed four positive body affirmations a day. The self
affirmations used were derived from a group of 15 randomly chosen women on
Westminster campus. These women were asked to write down things thought or did in
order to feel good about their bodies. Their sentences were re-worded into more general
statements and used as the self-affirmations. The body related affirmations can be found
in Table Two.
Results
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To analyze the effectiveness of the positive body affirmations, pre- and postsurvey means were calculated. For both groups, the pre-survey mean was 3.22 on a scale
of 1 to 5 (1 being dissatisfied and 5 being quite satisfied) with a standard deviation of .14;
the post-survey mean was 3.12 with a standard deviation of .21. A paired sample T-test
revealed no significant differences between the pre- and post-survey scores. The T-value
was 1.74 with 9 degrees of freedom. Therefore, the statistical analysis of both groups for
pre- and post-survey scores demonstrated that positive body affirmations did not yield
significant effects on body image.
Discussion
Although our results demonstrated no significant relationships between positive
body affirmations and global self-esteem, there could be several factors influencing this
outcome. Initially, the programmers and participants were unfamiliar with the WebCT
program, and this caused a delay with responses; in addition, a program error caused
several pre-surveys to be deleted, and participants were asked to duplicate their answers.
Also, instructions needed to be clarified for several individuals, and time of day was not
controlled for. Each of these confounding variables could have affected the authenticity
of the answers and therefore, the results.
In examining how a young adult woman feels about her body, this study did not
take into consideration how a woman’s menstrual cycle may have influenced her
responses to the pre- and post-surveys. Adverse factors often associated with a female’s
cycle could have temporarily influenced a woman’s feelings about her body. Researchers
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who desire to further examine the role of self affirmations in women may want to
consider these factors.
Furthermore, this study did not examine potential differences among women,
apart from age. Since women of color face different social issues than white women,
future research could focus specifically on women of color and look at how body image
affects their self-esteem in a pre-dominantly white society. Women from the lower
socio-economic classes may also carry a different view of their bodies and self-esteem.
Future research could further examine how body image plays a role in self-esteem with
different demographics.
Three measures of self-esteem were chosen for this study, but there are other valid
measures of self-esteem available. Although unlikely, other measures may have rendered
different results. Also, after compiling empirical research on body image and global selfesteem no set guidelines on forming affirmations were found. Nor is there set criteria to
measure the relevancy of affirmations. In the future a study could focus solely on the
most effective way to create self affirmations.
Positive Body Affirmations and Global Self-Esteem
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