© 2021 IJRAR September 2021, Volume 8, Issue 3 www.ijrar.

org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)

Body image perception and self-esteem Among

classical dancers
Sreelakshmi K S* & Dr.Vidhya Ravindranadan**
M.Sc.Psychology, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Union Christian College, Aluva, Kerala

Abstract
Body image is defined as a person's emotional attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about their own body
and self-esteem is a person's overall subjective feeling of personal worth. The objective of the study was
to understand if there is any significant difference between classical dancers and non-dancers in terms of
body image perception and self-esteem. Participants (N=160) were chosen at random from several dance
schools and regular colleges in Kerala, including 80 classical dancers (40 males and 40 females) and 80
non-dancers (40 males and 40 females) in the age group 18-22 years. The MBSRQ-AS and Rosenberg's
self-esteem questionnaires were used to collect data via Google form. The data were analyzed using one-
way ANOVA. From the results it was found that there is significant difference in over-weight
preoccupation between female classical dancers and non-dancers. There was no significant difference in
the other dimensions of body image perception like appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, over
weight pre occupation, body area satisfaction and self-esteem among male and female classical dancers
and non-dancers.

Keywords : Body image perception, self-esteem, classical dancer, non-dancer.

“The moment you change your perception is the moment you rewrite the chemistry of
your body”. (Lipton B.)

Body image is a human picture that is made up in one’s mind, which includes the concerns about individual
perception of own body. Body image can also be viewed as an individual’s, subjective sense of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction with one’s body or physical appearance (Melan, Haugland and Breidablik, 2006).
A person's view of his or her body image may be either pleased or unhappy. The happiness or disappointment
with one's body can lead to a shift in one's self-confidence. A positive attitude toward oneself will boost one's
self-esteem, while a negative attitude or excessive self-consciousness will lower one's self-esteem. Therefore,
the perception of one's body and one's self-esteem are related. Dancers are a group that is more concerned with
body image, which has a direct or indirect impact on their self-esteem.
Body image can be explained by the Developmental Theory of Embodiment put forth by Piran and Tell (2012).
The theory explains the influence of external experience on bodily experiences. When a positive environment is
maintained, the individual has a proper physical and mental balance thereby he/she will have a positive body
image. The present study deals with dancers and non-dancers in the aspects of their body image.
When a dancer is getting a positive response from society it automatically enhances his/her self-perception and
thereby will get an increase in self-esteem and well-being. Instead, if a person is getting negative feedback from
society as he /she is a dancer, the person will get into a conflict with his appearance and inner-self. The person
will have a negative body perception and this will indirectly reduce his self-esteem. The body image is having

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different dimensions. Some of which are:- Appearance evaluation is the positive-to-negative appraisals and
beliefs about one’s appearance ( Cash, 2020). Appearance orientation, which is the investment of self in body
appearances. It includes acts like grooming. Over-weight preoccupation refers to the anxiety that an individual
has regarding his/her body fat, eating behaviour etc. Body area satisfaction, the degree of agreement or
disagreement that one has towards various body parts.
The body image concept is more common among dancers. Being a professional dancer can develop an urge to
be picture perfect. Various studies indicate that professional dancers are more concerned about their body and
body parts. Dancers try to maintain a perfect body shape which indirectly influences performance. Body image
perception influences one’s self-esteem too.
Self-esteem comprises global feelings of self-worth, self-acceptance, goodness, worthiness, and self-respect
(Rosenberg, 1965). Dance as a physical activity had shown a positive impact on self-esteem (Calfas and
Taylor,1994). Many research findings state that participation in dance have an impact in one’s body image
perception and can also increase self-esteem (Quin et al., 2011).
An individual's body image perception has a significant impact on his or her self-esteem; when the perception is
positive, the person's self-esteem rises; when the perception is negative, the person's self-esteem falls. When a
person loses self-esteem, they try to improve their body image, and several studies show that this contributes to
the development of eating disorders. Professional dancers are the group most affected by body image and self-
esteem issues. A dancer is a public figure who believes that his or her body can give the general public an
indication of the quality of success.
The traditional classical dance is more commonly seen to be performed by females, and there exists a gender
stereotype while male dancers are performing classical dance. Currently, the Indian youth mainly females are
training classical dance either taking it as their passion or else due to family pressure. The adolescent
population is more oriented towards body image and society always keeps an eye on dancers, who are supposed
to have a dancer posture, which creates a self-evaluation in the dancers and thereby can affect their self-esteem.

Objectives
1. To examine whether there is any significant difference between male and female classical dancers and
non-dancers on body image perception and its sub dimensions like appearance evaluation, appearance
orientation, over weight pre occupation, and body area satisfaction.
2. To examine whether there is any significant difference between male and female classical dancers and
non-dancers on self-esteem.
Hypotheses
1 There will be no significant difference between male and female classical dancers and non-dancers in
appearance evaluation.
2 There will be no significant difference between male and female classical dancers and non-dancers in
appearance orientation.
3 There will be no significant difference between male and female classical dancers and non-dancers in
over-weight pre-occupation.
4 There will be no significant difference between male and female classical dancers and non-dancers in
body area satisfaction
5 There will be no significant difference between male and female classical dancers and non-dancers in
overall body image perception.
6 There will be no significant difference between male and female classical dancers and non-dancers in
self-esteem.

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METHOD
Participants
The participants consist of 80 classical dancers (40 males and 40 females) and 80 non-dancers (40 males and 40
females) belong to the age group of 18 – 22 years, who are pursuing their graduation. Dancers are those who
have been trained in any forms of classical dance atleast for a period of 5 years and still continue practice. Non-
dancers are students from college who had not been trained in any forms of classical dance and not yet
performed in any stages. The participants are collected from various districts of Kerala including Thrissur,
Ernakulam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kottayam and Idukki.
Inclusion criteria
 The dancers are trained in any forms of classical dance minimum for a period of 5 years and is still
continuing.
 Undergraduate students and post graduate students were included.
 Non-dancers have not received training in any forms of classical dance and have not performed dance in
any public occasions.
 The participants are of the age group 18-22years.

Exclusion criteria
 Dancers who have been trained but not continuously for 5 years
 Non-dancers who have not been trained but had performed dance in different occasions
Measures
 Multi-Dimensional Body Self-Relation Questionnaire-Appearance Scale, (MBSRQ-AS) by Thomas
Cash (2000)
The Multi-Dimensional Body Self-Relation Questionnaire-Appearance Scale (MBSRQ-AS) by Thomas
Cash (2000), a 34-item questionnaire, is used to assess body image perception. The MBSRQ-AS is a
revised form of a questionnaire derived from The Multi-dimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire
(MBSRQ) is a 69-item self-report questionnaire that was developed in 1985. The total score of the
MBSRQ-AS and its subscales were found to have strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha
coefficient for the entire scale=0.83).The subscales' internal consistency ranged from.76 to.86.
Reliabilities between tests ranged from.75 to.93. Validity varies from 0.67 and 0.72. The MBSRQ–AS
subscales correlated positively with the ASI–R and the SATAQ–3, indicating convergent validity.
The sub-scales are:- Appearance evaluation, Appearance orientation, Overweight preoccupation, Body
areas satisfaction scale.
 Self-Esteem Questionnaire (Dr Morris Rosenberg,1965)
Self-Esteem is being measured by Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Questionnaire developed by Dr Morris
Rosenberg in 1965. The scale is a self-report measure of self-esteem that consists of 10 items. Internal
consistency for the RSE ranges from 0.77 to 0.88 and the Test-retest reliability for the RSE ranges from
0.82 to 0.85. Criterion validity for RSE is 0.55 and for Construct validity for RSE is 0.64.
 Personal data schedule comprises the general information about the participant, including name, age,
sex, mobile number/mail-id, socio-economic status.
Procedure
Initially, a sample plan of the study was made out. The availability of the sample was checked. Different dance
institutes were identified from different districts of Kerala and from them dancers (both males and females of
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the age group 20-25) were randomly selected. Meanwhile non-dancers were selected from college students
without any formal dance training or performance experience. The participants were divided into four groups,
classical dancers (male and female) and non-dancers (male and female). Then with their consent the
questionnaire was distributed as google forms which initially had the personal data schedule followed by The
Multi-Dimensional Body Self-Relation Questionnaire-Appearance Scale (MBSRQ-AS) questionnaire and the
Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Questionnaire.
Data analysis
The data were analyzed using:-
 One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a set of statistical models established by statistician and
evolutionary biologist Ronald Fisher to examine the differences in group means and the methods that go
with them (such as "variation" among and between groups).ANOVA is used for comparing (testing) the
statistical significance of three or more means (groups or variables).
 Post hoc analysis : Post hoc tests are used when the researcher has already found a significant
difference after performing an F-test on a factor with three or more means, and further investigation of
the differences among means is required to provide specific information on which means are
significantly different from one another.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Table 1 indicates the descriptive statistics of the variables Appearance evaluation, appearance
orientation, overweight preoccupation and body area satisfaction between male and female classical dancers
and non-dancers. To find whether there will be a significant difference among male and female classical
dancers and non-dancers in body image perception and self-esteem, one way ANOVA has done and the results
are presented in the table 2.

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table 1
descriptive statistics of all the variables in the present study.

Variables Groups N Mean Std. Deviation

1 40 3.710714 .6335199
2 41 3.592334 .7060677
Appearance
3 41 3.714286 .6554326
evaluation
4 41 3.501742 .7687267
Total 163 3.629273 .6925508
1 40 3.420833 .3322364
2 41 3.252033 .4914151
Appearance
3 41 3.294715 .4040152
orientation
4 41 3.225610 .4100491
Total 163 3.297546 .4166635
1 40 3.1000 .86750
2 41 2.8841 1.11817
Overweight pre-
3 41 2.4756 .93006
occupation
4 41 2.9634 .68821
Total 163 2.8543 .93534
1 40 3.613889 .6209325
2 41 3.704607 .8354084
Body-area
3 41 3.780488 .6622482
satisfaction
4 41 3.577236 .6709214
Total 163 3.669393 .7006595
1 40 13.845437 1.3818634
2 41 13.433120 1.7729625
Body image 3 41 13.265099 1.3777939
4 41 13.268002 1.4789428
Total 163 13.450506 1.5166929
1 40 24.88 2.040
2 41 24.80 2.768
Self-esteem 3 41 24.61 2.974
4 41 25.32 2.382
Total 163 24.90 2.558

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table 2
one way ANOVA of male and female classical dancers and non-dancers on appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, over-
weight preoccupation, body area satisfaction, overall body image perception and self-esteem.

Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 1.284 3 .428 .891 .447

Appearance Within Groups 76.415 159 .481
Evaluation total
Total 77.700 162

Between Groups .905 3 .302 1.763 .156

Appearance
orientation Within Groups 27.219 159 .171
total
Total 28.125 162

Between Groups 8.819 3 2.940 3.517 .017

Over-weight
preoccupation Within Groups 132.908 159 .836
total
Total 141.727 162

Between Groups 1.028 3 .343 .694 .557

Body-area
satisfaction Within Groups 78.501 159 .494
total
Total 79.530 162

Between Groups 9.026 3 3.009 1.316 .271

Overall body Within Groups 363.632 159 2.287
image total
Total 372.658 162

Between Groups 10.981 3 3.660 .555 .646

Self-esteem Within Groups 1049.448 159 6.600
total
Total 1060.429 162

Table 2 indicates the comparison between male and female classical dancers and non-dancers in appearance
evaluation, appearance orientation, over-weight preoccupation, body area satisfaction, overall body image
perception and self-esteem. The results show that there is significant difference among male and female
classical dancers and non-dancers in over weight pre-occupation and there is no significant difference in
appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, body area satisfaction, overall body image perception and self-
esteem.
For over-weight preoccupation, the mean score of the between-group is 2.940 and the within-group is 0.836. the
F value is 3.517, which indicates a significant difference at 0.01 level among the male and female classical
dancers and non-dancers in overweight preoccupation. The overweight preoccupation examines fat anxiety,
weight vigilance, dieting and eating restraint. Dancers and non-dancers are two groups that differ in the area of
dance training. There is a basic idea that dancers need to maintain their body and appearance. Typically, a
dancer should look slim, thin and should be flexible. Therefore, dancers will be more anxious than non-dancers
when perceiving their body weight. Since there is a significant difference, the hypothesis 3, there will be no
significant difference between male and female classical dancers and non-dancers in over-weight
preoccupation. is rejected. Scheffe's post hoc analysis was used to determine which groups among the four had
significant differences in the variable of overweight preoccupation, and the results are given in Table 3.

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Table 3
Post hoc analysis of male and female classical dancers and non-dancers on over-weight preoccupation.

Subset for alpha = 0.05

Group N Classical dancers Non-dancers

Non-dancer (female) 41 2.4756

Classical dancer (male) 41 2.8841 2.8841

Non-dancer (male) 41 2.9634 2.9634
Classical dancer (female) 40 3.1000
Sig. .126 .769
The results indicate that there is significant difference between female classical dancers and female non-dancers
on over-weight preoccupation. Female classical dancers perceive themselves to be overweight when compared
to non-dancers. The findings are in line with Killion and Culpepper's (2014) study of body image perceptions
among female dancers, fitness cohorts, and non-dancers in the college population. The study was conducted
using the measures MBSRQ-AS, EAT-26, Physical activity questionnaire, Stunkard Figural Silhouettes and
body measurements. The results indicated that dancers perceive themselves as overweight when compared to
the other groups and they were engaged in disordered eating patterns.
For the other variables appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, over-weight preoccupation, body area
satisfaction, overall body image perception and self-esteem corresponding F value were found as not
significant. Since there was no significant difference, it indicates that in this modern society, everyone
irrespective of gender or dance training may be concerned about their appearance. Earlier dance was
considered to be a form of entertainment that gives more importance to the looks of the dancer but that
traditional thoughts are been taken away in this new developing world. Both dancers and non-dancers invest in
their beauty, but the results also revealed that, while taking good care of their appearance, the majority of the
participants use fewer grooming materials which also shows that majority of the participants are satisfied with
their body image. The findings reveal that whether they are dancers or non-dancers, their perceptions of their
bodies are more of the same.
The findings of the present study in appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, overweight preoccupation
and body area satisfaction contradict as well as confirms with the study conducted by Pollotau, Gaudas, and
Theodorakis (2010) on body image in female professional and amateur dancers. The study employed the
Multidimensional Body Self Relation questionnaire, and the analysis of variance revealed that dancing status
had a mixed result, with some variables having significant associations and others having no significant
associations between professional and amateur dancers. Professional dancers and amateur dancers had
significant differences in overweight preoccupation and body area satisfaction, according to this study. The
current study supports overweight preoccupation while contradicting body area satisfaction. This study also
found no significant differences in appearance evaluation and appearance orientation between professional and
amateur dancers, which is supported by the current study's findings.
The study indicates that training in dance does not have a significant effect on the body image parameters like
appearance evaluation and appearance orientation and have a significant effect on overweight preoccupation
and body area satisfaction. Dance training is not a contributing factor to one's appearance evaluation,
appearance orientation and body area satisfaction, but it might be contributing to overweight preoccupation in
females.

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CONCLUSION
The present study shows that there is significant difference in over-weight preoccupation between female
classical dancers and non-dancers. There is no significant difference in other subdimensions of body image
perception and self-esteem among classical dancers (male and female) and non-dancers. This indicates that in
this modern society, everyone irrespective of gender or dance training may be concerned about their overall
appearance, body area satisfaction and self-esteem.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt gratitude to God Almighty for providing me with the strength
and courage to complete this task. I am grateful to my supervising teacher, Dr. Vidhya Ravindranadan, for her
valuable advice and ideas at every level of my work. Her support and advise inspired me to take up and
complete this project satisfactorily. I would like to express my gratitude to teachers at Department of
Psychology, Union Christian College, Aluva, for all the support.
I would also like to express my gratitude to the teachers and students from several dance schools and ordinary
institutions who participated in this project.
Finally, I would like to convey my gratitude to my parents, friends, and classmates for their invaluable
assistance.

Sreelakshmi K. S.
MSc Psychology

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