Self-consciousness of appearance and adaptation in higher education: Exploratory study

• Autor(a) principal: Mendes, José Carlos da Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Fraga, Adriana, Medeiros, Carla, Moniz, Daniela, Miranda, Luana, Medeiros, Teresa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.31211/rpics.2018.4.2.76
• topic: Adultos emergentes; Adaptação Ensino Superior; Autoconsciência da Aparência; Emerging Adulthood; Higher Education Adaptation; Self-consciousness of Appearance

Background: Portuguese researchers have not devoted too much attention to Psychology of Appearance. Contemporary representations of the ideal body (thin, athletic, with defined muscles), widely disseminated by traditional media and by social media, often create dissatisfaction with appearance. Recent studies indicate that university students find themselves dissatisfied with their body image. Aim: To assess possible relationships between appearance concerns, especially self-consciousness of appearance, and adaptation to higher education by Portuguese students. Method: Exploratory and quantitative. Two hundred and six (206) students answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Portuguese short version of the Derriford Appearance Scale (DAS-14) and the Higher Education Adaptation Questionnaire (QAES). Results: There were significant differences in the DAS-14 between sexes; a moderate correlation between DAS-14 (self-consciousness of appearance) and personal and emotional adaptation; and weak relationships between self-consciousness of appearance and the remaining dimensions of QAES (interpersonal adaptation, institution adaptation, academic adaptation, commitment to the course, and career development). The self-consciousness of appearance presents itself as both a predictor variable and a response variable in the personal-emotional adaptation dimension. Conclusions: There seems to be a relationship between sex and self-consciousness of appearance: the lower the concentration of negative feelings around how the body looks the higher the adaptation to higher education along with social, cognitive and contextual dimensions. On the other hand, adaptation to higher education seems to influence the self- consciousness of appearance in emergent adults, with greater emphasis on personal-emotional adaptation. This study allows us to suggest future investigations in the evaluation of self-consciousness of appearance as a predictor variable.