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Body image is the multidimensional psychological experience of one’s own body, encompassing perceptions, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors related to physical appearance and embodiment. It is commonly organized into perceptual, cognitive, affective, and behavioral components, with attitudinal body image further distinguished as evaluation (satisfaction–dissatisfaction) and investment (the salience of appearance to self-worth). Contemporary scholarship treats negative and positive body image as qualitatively distinct constructs, the latter reflecting respect and appreciation for the body and its functionality. Within nutritional psychology, body image is a core psychosocial construct linking eating behavior, dietary quality, and mental health: body dissatisfaction is associated with dietary restraint, disinhibited eating, and disordered-eating risk, while body appreciation supports intuitive, attuned eating patterns (Kops et al., 2024; Jackson et al., 2024).
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The Center for Nutritional Psychology. (2026). Body Image. In Encyclopedia of Nutritional Psychology. The Center for Nutritional Psychology.
https://www.nutritional-psychology.org/encyclopedia/body-image/Know a term that belongs in the Encyclopedia?
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