Perceived Somatotype as Indicator of Accuracy of Body Image, a Method Using Somatotype Attitudinal Distance

Abstract

A method intended to assess accuracy of body image was applied to 52 Caucasian girls aged 14 and 15 years. Each girl, after being somatotyped by the Heath-Carter anthropometric method, was asked to select, among ten somatotype standard photographs, the one she perceived closest to her own objective somatotype. The purposes of the research were (i) to measure the distance between the objective and subjective judgements, self-perceived somatotypes by means of the somatotype attitudinal distance, and (ii) to assess the stability of the subjective somatotype by a test-retest correlation. The girls were also asked to select the pictures corresponding to the most preferred and aversive somatotypes. The test-retest coefficients were significant for the three somatotype choices. Hence, the method provides adequate stability and may be employed to reproduce the discrepancies between body image and real body build by a quantitative continuous measure.