It’s All About Being Kind to Oneself: A Quantitative Research on Positive Body Image, Self-Compassion and Self-Worth in College Students

Positive body image is how we accept, acknowledge and appreciate our bodies and its functionality. The concept of positive body image revolves around the fact the people accept and even admire their body, including those aspects that are inconsistent with idealized images. It is not simply an absence of negative body image. It is imperative to understand the existence of positive body image in both and women and find out ways and strategies in such way that it can be increased. Self-compassion training seems to be one of the ways that might increase positive body image and further may have impact on self-worth. The study examines the gender differences on positive body image, self-compassion and self-worth between men and women and the relationship between positive body image, self-compassion and self-worth. T-test, correlation and regression were used as statistical tools for data analysis using SPSS version 27. The results reveals that there are no significant gender differences on positive body image, self-compassion and self-worth between men and women and there is a positive relationship among positive body image, self-compassion and self-worth. The results further reveals that positive body image, and self-compassion predicted/influenced self-worth. The study is significant because it provides scope for the development and establishment of self-compassion interventions in schools and colleges for the promotion and enhancement of positive body image, such that there is an increase in self-worth also. It could be concluded that men and women do not differ in the way they perceive positive body image, self-compassion and self-worth, and positive body image and self-compassion influence our self-worth. It makes us believe that we are more than just are looks and must be kind and warm to ourselves.