Jessica M Alleva

Maastricht University | UM · Department of Clinical Psychological Science

This study tested Expand Your Horizon, a programme designed to improve body image by training women to focus on the functionality of their body using structured writing assignments. Eighty-one women (Mage=22.77) with a negative body image were randomised to the Expand Your Horizon programme or to an active control programme. Appearance satisfaction...

Objective Numerous stand-alone interventions to improve body image have been developed. The present review used meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of such interventions, and to identify the specific change techniques that lead to improvement in body image. Methods The inclusion criteria were that (a) the intervention was stand-alone (i.e....

Body functionality describes everything that the body is able to do, across diverse domains (e.g., bodily senses, creative endeavours). Nearly a decade ago, leading scholars identified research on body functionality as a priority for the body image field. The field has responded, as shown by the recent rise of body functionality research. We consid...

We conducted one-on-one interviews with 25 Canadian cisgender women who self-identified as having (a) a condition or characteristic causing their body to deviate from societal norms and (b) overcome a negative body image to develop a positive body image. Using coding reliability thematic analyses, we identified 12 themes (italicised) involving proc...

Across many cultures, women are evaluated based on their appearance, with narrow societal beauty ideals as the standard against which they are judged and, eventually, judge themselves. Women who internalize the beauty ideal are more likely to consider cosmetic surgery. Dissonance-based interventions targeting thin-ideal internalization are effectiv...

This study investigated a novel technique to improve body image among women who have undergone bariatric surgery: Namely, by having them focus on their body functionality (everything the body can do, rather than how it looks). Participants were 103 women (Mage = 46.61) who had undergone bariatric surgery 5-7 months prior to the study. They were ran...

Emerging research suggests that positive body image—an overall love and respect for one’s body— may be a protective factor for eating disorder (ED) symptoms. This study aimed to explore the relationships between positive body image, ED symptoms, and related factors among men across time. A community sample of 440 British men completed questionnaire...

Migration demands may put Chinese people living abroad at higher risk for mental health difficulties. However, mental illness is stigmatised and often neglected. The aim of this study was to investigate mental illness stigma endorsement amongst second‐generation Chinese individuals in Germany and explore the role of acculturation and stigma on ment...

Around the world, an increasing number of people, predominantly women, are choosing to undergo cosmetic surgery-despite the associated health risks. This study aimed to promote a better cross-cultural understanding of the correlates and predictors of favorable attitudes toward cosmetic surgery among women in China (an Eastern country where cosmetic...

There is an established relationship between acceptance of cosmetic surgery and psychological factors, including body image. However, qualitative research among diverse cultural groups is needed to provide a more fine-grained understanding of the influences on women’s attitudes towards cosmetic surgery. In this study, 20 Chinese and 20 Dutch women...

Research supports the hypothesis that people with a positive body image engage in a cognitive process of protective filtering, whereby positive information is "filtered in" and negative information is "filtered out" to promote and maintain positive body image (Wood-Barcalow et al., 2010). To provide more insight into this process, this study qualit...

Objective Weight stigma is prevalent across multiple life domains, and negatively affects both psychological and physical health. Yet, research into weight stigma reduction techniques is limited, and rarely results in reduced antipathy toward higher-weight individuals. The current pre-registered study investigated a novel weight stigma reduction in...

Research has shown that individuals with a positive body image promote positive body image to others, yet also have close others who unconditionally accept their body and feel positively about their own body, too. This mutual interdependence between the individual and the environment with respect to positive body image has been termed reciprocity....

This study investigated death reflection as a novel strategy to improve body image among women. Young adult women (N = 158; M age = 21.35) completed a death reflection exercise, a death-related active control exercise (to ensure that effects were due to the manner in which women reflected on their death, rather than due to thoughts about death in g...

This study investigated the effects of yoga on functionality appreciation, and the potential mechanisms that could explain the impact of yoga on additional facets of positive body image. Young adult women (N = 114; Mage = 22.19) were randomised to a 10-week Hatha yoga programme or waitlist control group. Participants completed measures of functiona...

This paper describes a Chinese translation and validation of the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS; Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 2005), a questionnaire for assessing attitudes towards cosmetic surgery. Chinese adults (335 women, 240 men; Mage = 33.65) completed the Chinese ACSS and – to investigate construct validity – measures of body...

The field of body image and appearance research and practice is progressing; however, there is still work to be done to ensure broad societal impact. This article consolidates reflections from a range of established and early career experts in the field of appearance and body image, with a focus on stimulating and guiding future agenda setting and...

The aim of this study was to explore the themes that emerge when individuals are asked to describe their body functionality, and those that emerge when individuals are asked to describe their physical appearance. Data were gathered from undergraduate women and men's (N = 75, Mage = 20.66) responses to a writing exercise (Alleva et al., 2014), where...

This chapter concerns body functionality: everything that the body can do, encompassing body functions related to (a) physical capacities (e.g., flexibility), (b) internal processes (e.g., digesting food), (c) bodily senses and perception (e.g., sight), (d) creative endeavors (e.g., playing an instrument), (e) communication with others (e.g., body...

This chapter concerns body functionality: everything that the body can do, encompassing body functions related to (a) physical capacities (e.g., flexibility), (b) internal processes (e.g., digesting food), (c) bodily senses and perception (e.g., sight), (d) creative endeavours (e.g., playing an instrument), (e) communication with others (e.g., body...

Investigations of positive body image among men and across various social identities are lacking, and could contribute to a more complete understanding of the construct, including how positive body image can be improved. This study addressed this gap by investigating correlates of body appreciation - a key facet of positive body image - in men, and...

Due to the enormous popularity of social networking sites (SNSs), online and offline social lives seem inextricably linked, which raises concerns for how SNS use relates to psychological health. Similarly, the omnipresence of selfies on SNSs—a form of appearance-related exposure—raises concerns regarding psychological health. This study aimed to in...

Objective: Negative body image is prevalent in women with rheumatoid arthritis and can affect other areas of well-being. Patients have expressed desire for body image to be addressed in treatment. Yet, it is not routinely addressed and no experimental intervention research has been conducted, until now. This randomized trial evaluated a brief onli...

Focusing on body functionality is a promising technique for improving women’s body image. This study replicates prior research in a large novel sample, tests longer-term follow-up effects, and investigates underlying mechanisms of these effects (body complexity and body-self integration). British women (N = 261) aged 18-30 who wanted to improve the...

Women with a more negative body evaluation perceive that their body is associated with more negative social feedback. This covariation bias could reinforce negative body evaluation. We investigated whether covariation bias could be diminished and explored the potential roles of outcome aversiveness and interpretation of negative social feedback ass...

Although self-presentation has been studied for decades, social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook have produced novel opportunities for visual online self-presentation. Posting selfies is currently a popular mode of consciously constructing visual online self-presentation, yet most prior research is limited to selfie posting alone. This study...

Experimental pain research frequently relies on the recruitment of volunteers. However, because experimental pain research often involves unpleasant and painful sensations, it may be especially susceptible to sampling bias. That is, volunteers in experimental pain research might differ from nonvolunteers on several relevant variables that could aff...

Pain research relies on the recruitment of volunteers, often students. Pain research might be especially susceptible to sampling bias, as it often involves painful and unpleasant stimuli. Paradoxically, several traits that are relevant in the study of chronic pain, such as fear of pain or pain catastrophizing, might be abnormally low in volunteers...

Body functionality has been identified as an important dimension of body image that has the potential to be useful in the prevention and treatment of negative body image and in the enhancement of positive body image. Specifically, cultivating appreciation of body functionality may offset appearance concerns. However, a scale assessing this construc...

ABSTRACT: On a daily basis, men and women are confronted with numerous messages concerning the importance of their physical appearance. These pressures can then contribute to a negative body image. Jessica Alleva describes how these pressures can be counteracted by focusing not on how the body looks, but what it can do, and explores how this shift...

This paper describes a Dutch translation and validation of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015a), an instrument for assessing key components of positive body image. Dutch-speaking female university students (N = 310, Mage = 21.31, SD = 3.04) completed the Dutch BAS-2. To assess its construct validity, participants also...

This pilot study explored whether focusing on body functionality (i.e., everything the body can do) can protect women from potential harmful effects of exposure to thin-ideal images. Seventy women (Mage = 20.61) completed an assignment wherein they either described the functionality of their body or the routes that they often travel (control). Afte...

Women with a negative body evaluation display covariation bias: They overestimate the relation between their own body and negative social feedback. This study aimed to develop a more fine-grained understanding of this covariation bias and to determine whether it could be diminished. Seventy women completed a computer task wherein three categories o...

Body dissatisfaction in females is common and a risk factor for the development of an eating disorder. This study tested whether body dissatisfaction could be improved using a brief conditioning intervention in which photographs of participants' bodies were selectively paired with positive social stimuli (smiling faces) and photographs of other bod...

Feelings of body dissatisfaction are common in Western society, especially in women and girls. More than innocent discontent, body dissatisfaction can have serious consequences such as depression and eating disorders. The current article discusses the nature of body dissatisfaction, how it develops and how it is currently being treated. We also dis...

Feelings of body dissatisfaction are common in Western society, especially in women and girls. More than innocent discontent, body dissatisfaction can have serious consequences such as depression and eating disorders. The current article discusses the nature of body dissatisfaction, how it develops and how it is currently being treated. We also dis...

The current study investigated whether negative body evaluation predicts women's overestimation of negative social feedback related to their own body (i.e., covariation bias). Sixty-five female university students completed a computer task where photos of their own body, of a control woman's body, and of a neutral object, were followed by nonverbal...

DUTCH: Als men aan het begrip lichaamsbeeld denkt, denkt men vooral aan het uiterlijk van het lichaam. Ook het meeste onderzoek naar het lichaamsbeeld is gericht op het uiterlijk. Dit is een van de grootste beperkingen van lichaamsbeeldonderzoek, want een belangrijk deel van het lichaamsbeeld wordt vergeten, namelijk lichaamsfunctionaliteit. Wat h...

DUTCH: Er is een paradigmaverschuiving gaande in het lichaamsbeeldonderzoek van een focus op het negatief lichaamsbeeld naar meer aandacht voor het positief lichaamsbeeld. Onderzoekers stellen dat het noodzakelijk is om het positief lichaamsbeeld te verbeteren – en niet alleen het negatief lichaamsbeeld te verminderen – om een gezond lichaamsbeeld...

With the current studies, we aimed to improve body satisfaction by inducing a functionality-based focus on the body. Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) was used as a guiding framework for this approach. In Study 1, 59 female and 59 male undergraduates and, in Study 2, 118 women between the ages of 30 and 50 years completed a writi...

Previous research has shown that eating disordered women lack a self-serving body image bias and largely make self-defeating social comparisons. These factors influence how eating disordered women feel about their bodies, and may also influence treatment for disordered eating. In group mirror exposure therapy, women inevitably compare their own bod...

The extent to which rumination mediates the relation between mindfulness skills and depressive symptoms in nonclinical undergraduates (N = 254) was examined. Measures of mindfulness (Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills), ruminative brooding and reflective pondering (Ruminative Response Scale), and depressive symptomatology (Quick Inventory of...

Traditionally, a woman’s value has largely depended on her appearance, while a man’s value has depended on his performance. This tendency of society to evaluate women based on their bodies may cause many women to feel dissatisfied about their bodies if they fail to meet strict beauty standards. Body dissatisfaction has serious consequences such as...

DUTCH: De helft van de vrouwelijke bevolking is ontevreden over haar uiterlijk en vindt zichzelf te dik. Vele van deze vrouwen bekruipt zelfs een intens gevoel van afkeer als zij in de spiegel kijken. Dit onbehagen beperkt zich niet tot volwassen vrouwen; meisjes van niet ouder dan tien jaar piekeren over hun gewicht en lichaams-vormen. Wat zijn d...