 As children advance in age, their interest changes and with these come changes in their bodies.

 At this stage that parents should respect their teenager’s privacy and allow them enough space to
grow, let them know that their parents are always there ready to LISTEN and to provide SUPPORT.
 The physical self refers the concrete dimensions of the body, the tangible aspects of the person which
can be directly observed and examined.
 Physical characteristics defining traits or features of the person’s body.
 Erik Erikson believed in the importance of the body from development. The physical as well
intellectual skills serve a basis to a person has achieved a sense of competence and be able to manage
and face the demands of life complexities.

According to healthy children.org adolescence is divided into three periods :

1. The first is early adolescence (from 11 to 14 years old).

2. The second is middle adolescence (from 15 years to 17 years old).

3. The last stage is the late adolescence (from 18 to 21 years old).

 According to Santrock (2016), puberty is not the same as adolescence because

puberty ends prior to the end the adolescent period. Puberty as the most essential marker of the beginning
of adolescence.

 Girls reached puberty earlier than boys and experience menarche

which is her first menstrual flow.

 Boys two to three years later, experience spermarche or semenarche which is his first ejaculation or
nocturnal emission (wet dreams)
 Santrock further explained that puberty is a brain neuroendocrine process occurring primarily in early
adolescence that triggers the rapid physical changes.
 The pituitary gland is the master endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates the functions of
all other endocrine glands, including the gonads (ovaries for girls and testes for boys).
 These hormones (oestrogen for girls) promote physical changes such as increase in height, widening
of the hips and increases in fatty tissues in the breast.
 BODY IMAGE refers to the way one sees himself/ herself or the way he/she imagines how he/she
looks.”.
 Young adolescents usually experience “imaginary audience “which refers to an egocentric state
where the individual imagines and believes that many people are actively listening to or watching him
or her.
 In social psychology, this phenomenon is called “spotlight effect” which refers to the belief that
others are paying more attention to the person’s appearance and behavior than they really are.

PERSONAL FACTORS

a. INTROSPECTION AND SELF- REFLECTION

Looking inward is one of the simplest way to achieve self-knowledge. According to Hewstone , et al.,
(2015), introspection is the process by which one observes and examines one’s internal state (mental and
emotional).

b. SELF- PERCEPTION THEORY

As stated by hewstone (2015), Bem in 1972 self-perception theory explains that since one’s internal states
is difficult to interpret, people can infer their inner states by observing their own behaviour – as if they are
an outside observer. Physical perception includes all aspects of a person’s perception of his physical self.

c. SELF – CONCEPT

Is a cognitive representation of self- knowledge which includes the sum total of all beliefs that people
have about themselves. Physical self-concept is the individual’s perception or description of his physical
self, including his physical appearance.

d. PERSONAL IDENTITY

Is the concept a person has about himself that develops over the years. This includes aspects of his life
that he was born into like family, nationality, gender , physical traits as well as the choices he makes, such
as what he does for a living, who his friends are and what we believes.

SOCIAL FACTORS

a. ATTACHMENT PROCESS AND SOCIAL APPRAISAL

According to Bowlby (1969), people learn about their value and lovability when they experience how
their mothers or caregivers care for them and respond to their needs.

b. MAINTAINING, REGULATING AND EXPANDING THE SELF INTERPERSONAL

RELATIONSHIP

Aside from the attachment developed when individuals are still young, the sense of the self is
continuously shaped through on-going interaction with others or with significant relationships partners.

c. THE LOOKING- GLASS SELF THEORY

Charles Horton Cooley stated that a person’s self grows out of society’s interpersonal interactions and the
perception of others. The view of oneself comes from a compilation of personal qualities and impressions
of how others perceive the individual.

d. SOCIAL COMPARISON

Hewstone et.al (2015) cited the work of Leon Festinger in 1954 introduced another way of understanding
oneself by comparing one’s trait, abilities, or opinions to that of others. Social comparison is a process of
comparing oneself with others in order to evaluate one’s own abilities and opinions.

UPWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON

Happens when an individual compare himself to others who are better than him.

DOWNWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON

Happens when an individual compares himself to someone who is in a worse situation than he is
especially when he is feeling so low.

e. SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY (COLLECTIVE IDENTITY)

-it was formulated by Tajfel and Turner in1979 which provides a framework about how people achieve
understanding about themselves by being a member of their group

-it will enhance their self-esteem because they feel secured with the shield of group membership where
they belong social groups

-include gender, ethnicity, religion, profession, political membership, and business organization
THE IMPACT OF CULTURE IN BODY IMAGE AND SELF ESTEEM: THE IMPORTANCE
OF BEAUTY

 CULTURE is defined as a social system that is characteized by the

shared meanings that are attributed to people and events by its members (Hewstone, 2015)

 A significant aspect of culture that strongly influences adolescents who are in a face-to-face
encounter with their physical selves in how their culture conceptualizes beauty.
 Merriam and webster defines that beauty as the quality of being physically attractive or the qualities
or a thing that give pleasure to senses or the mind.

THE FILIPINO CONCEPT OF BEAUTY

 EUROCENTRISM is defined as tendency to interpret the world in terms of European or Anglo-

American values and experiences.
 Extant standard of beauty has strong implications on how the Filipinos in the society perceive beauty.
 The “tisoy” and “tisay” beauty standard is strongly promoted in media today by casting actors that do
not physically resemble the everyday Filipino.
 An aspect of Eurocentrism called colorism is defined as “the prejudicial or preferential treatment of
same-race people based solely of the color of the skin”
 Being fair-skinned gives the impression of beauty, health and wealth.
 Dark-skinned Filipino tend to have negative body image. The message that society gives is that flat
noses and dark complexions do not define beauty.
 Eurocentrism and colorism indeed have significant effects on the body image and identities of the
common Filipino.

SELF ESTEEM AND THE IDEAL BODY IMAGE

 Hewstone et al., (2015) defines self-esteem as the overall evaluation that a person has of himself
which can be positive or negative, high or low. Self-esteem is a measure of the person's self-worth
based on some personal or social standard.
 According to research, however, the level of self-esteem fluctuates across the life-span and may not
always match will reality (Santrock, 2014)

ADOLESCENT’S BODY IMAGE INCLUDES THE FF:

 Perception of their physical self when they look in the mirror.
 Feelings of like or dislike about the physical self that they see.
 Their thoughts and how they relate to physical self
 Perception of how other people view them physically.

A person with positive body will have a high self-esteem and will often spend more time taking care
of their appearance. Also, the attention that he gets for his physical beauty elevates the level of his self-
esteem. On the other hand, when the person is not satisfied with what he sees which affects that he does
not measure up to how his culture defines beauty then he will have negative beauty image and a low self-
esteem.

The ff. are some aspects in culture that may have led to misconceptions about ideal beauty:

 Society's ideals of the perfect physical form which are: for women: white perfect skin, small
waistline, big breast and behind, long straight hair, long manicured nails, slender and tall and for men:
tall, tanned perfect skin, muscled physique, with 6-pack abs.
 Images of perfection adolescents see in all types of media i.e., print, television, film and internet.
Mass media is a powerful tool that reinforces cultural beliefs and values. Though young people may
initially disagree with the set ideals of beauty, repeated exposure via media lead them to believe in
misconceptions.
 Since a standard has been set by the society and reinforce by media, any characteristic that does not
conform to the standard is labelled as ugly. Body diversity in size and structure due to genetic
heritability is not tolerated. Being pretty and white skinned or tanned and muscular had become
associated with the intelligent, successful, popular, healthy, and the disciplined. Opposite
characteristics are associated with the dull, lazy, ugly, and the weak.

Yes, beauty is important. But being beautiful still depends how a person defines beauty and standards he
set to meet this definition. It is a big mistake to base beauty on someone else’s standard. PEOPLE ARE
DIFFERENT AND EACH ONE IS UNIQUELY BEAUTIFUL.