Body Image 10 (2013) 624627

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Body Image
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bodyimage

Brief research report

Body appreciation in adult women: Relationships with age

and body satisfaction
Marika Tiggemann , Alice McCourt
Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 19 April 2013
Received in revised form 15 July 2013
Accepted 15 July 2013
Keywords:
Positive body image
Body appreciation
Adult women
Middle-aged women
Body dissatisfaction

The major aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of age on positive body image (operationalized as body appreciation) across the female lifespan. A secondary aim was to examine the effect of
age on the relationship between positive body image and body satisfaction. Participants were 158 women
aged between 18 and 75 years who completed questionnaire measures of body appreciation and body
dissatisfactionsatisfaction. A signicant positive linear relationship was found between age and body
appreciation; that is, older women had higher levels of body appreciation than their younger counterparts. Although body appreciation was positively correlated with body dissatisfactionsatisfaction across
all age groups, the association was weaker for older women. The results contribute to a richer picture of
womens body image across the lifespan, as well as conrming positive body image as something beyond
the mere absence of body dissatisfaction.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Body image has been conceptualized as a complex and
multi-faceted construct encompassing many aspects of how people experience their own embodiment, especially their physical
appearance (Cash, 2012). Despite this broad remit, both theorizing and research in body image have been largely pathology driven
(Smolak & Cash, 2011), with a particular focus on body dissatisfaction. Recently, however, it has been argued that such a negative
focus has limited our holistic understanding of body image, as well
as treatment and prevention options (Tylka, 2011). Correspondingly, there have been accompanying calls for the eld to re-focus
on studying positive body image (Menzel & Levine, 2011; Tylka,
2011).
Broadly dened, positive body image refers to the love, respect,
acceptance, and appreciation held for ones body (Tylka, 2011).
Having positive body image allows individuals to accept all aspects
of their body, even those which do not conform to media-portrayed
societal ideals, and to appreciate the functions their body performs
for them. Importantly, positive body image is conceptualized as
something more than just the equivalent of low negative body
image, or the mere absence of body dissatisfaction. Indeed, a number of qualitative studies have identied characteristics of positive
body image that go considerably beyond body satisfaction such

Corresponding author at: School of Psychology, Flinders University, GPO Box

2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. Tel.: +61 8 8201 2482; fax: +61 8 8201 3877.
E-mail address: marika.tiggemann@inders.edu.au (M. Tiggemann).
1740-1445/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.07.003

as optimism, a broad notion of beauty, and a functional view of

the body (Frisn & Holmqvist, 2010; Holmqvist & Frisn, 2012;
Williams, Cash, & Santos, 2004; Wood-Barcalow, Tylka, & AugustusHorvath, 2010).
Until recently, however, research examining positive body
image has been hampered by the absence of any reliable and valid
measurement tool. In response, Avalos, Tylka, and Wood-Barcalow
(2005) developed the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS) and showed it
to have good psychometric properties. The scale has now been used
in a number of empirical studies to investigate positive body image.
In particular, a small but growing body of research has shown the
BAS to be associated with a range of positive outcomes, including
intuitive eating (Augustus-Horvath & Tylka, 2011; Iannantuono &
Tylka, 2012), self-esteem (Avalos et al., 2005; Swami, Airs, Chouhan,
Leon, & Towell, 2009), and better sexual functioning (Satinsky,
Reece, Dennis, Sanders, & Bardzell, 2012).
One important limitation of this small body of research is that
samples have largely been comprised of female undergraduate
students. Thus they have been restricted in terms of education, socio-economic status, and age. Little is known about body
appreciation among middle-aged women or how this construct
might differ across age. In one community sample of ethnically
diverse young adult British women (M age = 26.1 years), Swami,
Hadji-Michael, and Furnham (2008) found a small negative correlation between BAS and age (r = .22). Similarly, Augustus-Horvath
and Tylka (2011) reported a small negative correlation with age
(r = .08) in a sample of US women (M age = 33.1 years). However,
these samples were recruited from a diverse array of sources and
were weighted towards younger participants.

M. Tiggemann, A. McCourt / Body Image 10 (2013) 624627

Thus the rst aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between age and body appreciation across a wide age
range in a sample recruited from a single catchment source. Here,
we predicted a positive relationship between age and body appreciation. That is, as women grow older, we predicted that their body
appreciation would increase, not decrease. This prediction was
based on the reasoning that with increasing age women shift their
focus to and become more appreciative of their health and functionality rather than their physical appearance (Augustus-Horvath
& Tylka, 2011; Tiggemann & Lynch, 2001). They also use cognitive
strategies such as reappraisal to accept their bodys imperfections (Webster & Tiggemann, 2003) and are less likely to consider
their physical appearance as central to their overall self-worth
(Tiggemann & Lacey, 2009; Tiggemann & Stevens, 1999). These attitudinal and accompanying behavioural changes are all hallmarks
of body appreciation, and hence lead logically to the prediction of
increasing body appreciation with age.
The secondary aim of the present study was to examine the
effect of age on the relationship between positive body image
(body appreciation) and the most commonly assessed body image
construct, body dissatisfactionsatisfaction (Cash, 2012). Although
body dissatisfaction and body appreciation have been shown to
be negatively related in samples of college (Avalos et al., 2005)
and community women (Swami, Stieger, Harris, Nader, Pietschnig,
Voracek & Tove, 2012), as indicated earlier, body appreciation and
body dissatisfaction are not simply polar opposites. Put differently,
body appreciation is something over and above simply body satisfaction. In support, Swami and Tove (2009) found that body
appreciation was signicantly higher among street dancers than
non-dancers, despite there being no difference in body dissatisfaction.
More generally, a number of reviews (e.g., Grogan, 2008;
Tiggemann, 2004; Tiggemann & Slevec, 2012) have concluded
that, despite the physical changes associated with ageing, body
(dis)satisfaction remains remarkably stable across the entire
female lifespan. This is in marked contrast to our prediction for
body appreciation (that it will increase with age), and thus provides another opportunity for distinguishing between the two
constructs. We predict here that body appreciation and body
dissatisfactionsatisfaction will be positively correlated across the
entire age range. However, we also expect that this relationship
will be weaker for older women than younger women. We reason
that older women may experience body appreciation even if they
are not totally satised with their body, in a way unlikely to be the
case for younger women.
In sum, the major aim of the present study was to examine
the relationship between age and body appreciation across a wide
age range. Specically, it was predicted that body appreciation will
increase as women age. The second aim was to investigate the effect
of age on the relationship between body appreciation and body satisfaction. It was predicted that body appreciation will be positively
correlated with body dissatisfactionsatisfaction, but that this relationship will be moderated by age, such that the relationship will
be weaker in older than younger women.

Method
Participants
Participants were 158 women between the ages of 18 and
75 years (M = 39.93, SD = 13.27) recruited from a major clothing
store and adjoining hair salon located in a town in southern
South Australia. The population of the town is overwhelmingly
Caucasian/White. The particular store carries a full range of clothing sizes, including plus sizes. On average, participants reported

625

shopping for clothes once a month. Mean body mass index (BMI)
was 26.54 (SD = 4.46), and mean clothing size was 13.1 (SD = 3.1)
[Australian size 14 = UK size 14 = US size 10].
Measures
Background information: Participants were asked their age,
clothing size, height, weight, and how frequently they shopped for
clothes. Participants also completed a measure of clothing choices
(Tiggemann & Lacey, 2009) [not analyzed].
Body appreciation: Body appreciation was assessed by the Body
Appreciation Scale (BAS) developed by Avalos et al. (2005). This
13-item scale contains items addressing the appreciation, acceptance, respect, and attention given to ones body (e.g., I respect
my body, Despite my aws, I accept my body for what it is).
Responses are on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = never, 5 = always) and
averaged, with higher scores reecting greater body appreciation.
Avalos et al. (2005) reported unidimensionality of the scale, as well
as good construct validity and internal reliability ( = 0.910.94) in
samples of US college women. In the present Australian sample,
internal reliability was similarly high ( = 0.90).
Body satisfaction: Body dissatisfactionsatisfaction was measured by the Body Areas Satisfaction Subscale of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (Brown, Cash, & Mikulka,
1990). Participants indicate their degree of dissatisfaction or satisfaction with nine body areas (e.g., mid torso, face, weight) using
a 5-point Likert scale (1 = very dissatised, 5 = very satised). Items
are averaged to produce a total score, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction (and lower dissatisfaction). Cash (2000)
reported good reliability and validity, and internal consistency
ranging from 0.70 to 0.89. In the present sample, internal reliability
fell within this range ( = 0.77).
Procedure
Following approval by the Institutional Research Ethics Committee, and with the permission of the shop owners, women
shoppers in the clothing store and adjoining hairdressers were
invited to participate in a study entitled You and your clothing
choices via a poster and an information letter on the store counter.
Interested participants completed the questionnaire either in the
store or at home in their own time. Completed questionnaires were
deposited anonymously into a secure box at the store or returned
by post in a sealed reply-paid envelope.

Results
Age Effects on Body Appreciation and Body Satisfaction
Table 1 provides the correlations between age and body appreciation and body dissatisfactionsatisfaction. In particular, it can be
seen that there was a signicant positive correlation between age
and body appreciation. In support of our prediction, increasing age
was associated with increasing levels of body appreciation. In contrast, there was no signicant correlation between age and body
dissatisfactionsatisfaction.
To address the possibility of non-linear age effects, the women
were divided into three (approximately tertile) groups on the basis
of age according to Webster and Tiggemann (2003) categorization: young adulthood (1834 years; n = 56), middle adulthood
(3549 years; n = 50), older adulthood (5175 years; n = 52). A
one-way ANOVA conrmed a signicant difference only on body
appreciation between the three age groups, F(2, 155) = 3.59, p < .05,
2p = .044. Subsequent post hoc (Tukey) testing showed that the

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M. Tiggemann, A. McCourt / Body Image 10 (2013) 624627

Table 1
Correlations between age and body appreciation and body dissatisfactionsatisfaction, and age group means (standard deviations).
Correlation with age

Body appreciation
Body dissatisfactionsatisfaction

.19*
.06

Stage of Adulthood
Younger (n = 56)

Middle (n = 50)

Older (n = 52)

3.22a (0.67)
3.10 (0.55)

3.24a (0.62)
3.10 (0.54)

3.51b (0.55)
3.20 (0.63)

Note: Different subscripts denote signicantly different subgroups.

*
p < 05.

oldest age group had signicantly higher body appreciation than

both groups of younger women.
Effect of Age on Relationship Between Body Appreciation
and Body Satisfaction
Table 2 provides the correlations between body appreciation
and body dissatisfactionsatisfaction. For the whole sample, as predicted, body appreciation was signicantly positively correlated
with body dissatisfactionsatisfaction.
To test whether age moderated the relationship, a
hierarchical regression was conducted. Age and body
dissatisfactionsatisfaction (centred) were entered in Step 1 of
the regression to control for main effects, followed by the product
term in Step 2. A signicant interaction is indicated by a signicant
R2 change in Step 2. Here it was found that the product term did
add signicant variance to the prediction of body appreciation,
R2 change = .031, Fchange (1, 154) = 9.28, p < .01; that is, age did moderate the relationship between body dissatisfactionsatisfaction
and body appreciation. The form of this moderation is indicated in
Table 2. It can be seen that, as predicted, the correlation decreased
in size across the increasing age groups. It should nevertheless
be noted that the relationship remained moderately strong in all
three age groups.
Discussion
The major results of the present study are clear. First,
body appreciation was positively associated with age. Second, body appreciation was positively related to body
dissatisfactionsatisfaction across the entire age range, but
the strength of the relationship became weaker with increasing
age. These results add to the small but growing literature on the
body image of women older than the typical college student.
The present study was the rst attempt to explicitly and systematically examine the associations between age and positive body
image. Although two previous studies (Augustus-Horvath & Tylka,
2011; Swami et al., 2008) had incidentally reported small negative
relationships with age, neither study had this as their major aim and
their samples had been weighted towards younger participants.
Here, in contrast, but as predicted, a positive relationship was found
with age. That is, greater age among women was associated with
greater body appreciation. This conrms our reasoning that women
become more appreciative of their health and functionality and
increasingly able to accept their bodys physical imperfections with
increasing age (Tiggemann & Lynch, 2001; Webster & Tiggemann,
2003).

Although the positive linear relationship between age and body

appreciation was signicant with a small to moderate effect size, it
should be noted that when age categories were compared, only the
oldest group of women, those aged over 50 years, had greater body
appreciation than both groups of younger women. Perhaps around
age 50 (the typical time of menopause) marks a turning point in
womens lives, a point where women can (or perhaps reluctantly
are forced to) come to terms with their bodys increasing departure from the societally-dened ideal (Tiggemann & Lynch, 2001)
and learn to appreciate their body as it is. As the present sample
had a relatively greater proportion of women over 50 years than
the previous samples (Augustus-Horvath & Tylka, 2011; Swami
et al., 2008), this likely explains the difference in result and suggests that the observed relationship may be largely carried by the
older women. Future research will require much larger samples in
order to specify the trajectory of body appreciation over the female
lifespan with more precision, as well as to investigate the inuence of specic biological (e.g., menopause) or social (e.g., marriage)
milestones.
The second aim of the study was to investigate the effect
of age on the relationship between body appreciation and body
(dis)satisfaction. Just as has been demonstrated in college-aged
samples (Avalos et al., 2005), body appreciation was positively correlated with body dissatisfactionsatisfaction in both middle- and
older-adult women, and thus we can conclude that body satisfaction is a moderately strong predictor of body appreciation across a
wide age range.
However, this moderately strong relationship should not be
taken as conrmation that body appreciation is more-or-less
the same as body satisfaction. Two different ndings from the
present study argue against this interpretation. First, the different trajectories with age (body appreciation increased, body
dissatisfactionsatisfaction remained stable) provide a convincing
demonstration that the two constructs are not interchangeable.
Second, the strength of the relationship between body appreciation and body dissatisfactionsatisfaction weakened with age,
suggesting that it becomes increasingly possible for women to
simultaneously experience some level of body dissatisfaction but
also to appreciate and respect their body in other ways. One potential practical implication is that body image interventions might
usefully specically target increasing positive body image (rather
than attempting to decrease body dissatisfaction).
Like all studies, the present study carries a number of limitations. The sample came from one clothing shop and hairdresser
in one town and so women may have had particular characteristics
(e.g., investment in appearance), such that results may not generalize to more ethnically diverse groups in other geographic locations.
However, recruiting participants from a single source carries the

Table 2
Correlations between body appreciation and body dissatisfactionsatisfaction.
Total sample (n = 158)

Body dissatisfactionsatisfaction
*

p < .001.

0.67*

Stage of Adulthood
Younger (n = 56)

Middle (n = 50)

Older (n = 52)

0.78*

0.69*

0.52*

M. Tiggemann, A. McCourt / Body Image 10 (2013) 624627

methodological advantage that age is less likely to be confounded

with other (unmeasured) variables than when recruiting participants from a variety of disparate sources. In addition, the study
was cross-sectional in design and thus it is theoretically possible
that observed age differences are due to cohort effects, rather than
developmental changes accompanying ageing. The overall pattern
of results obtained makes this seem unlikely, but longitudinal studies which trace positive body image over a considerable period of
time are required to denitively rule out this possibility.
Despite its limitations, the present study has made a contribution to the study of body image. As the rst demonstration
of a positive relationship between age and body appreciation, it
has extended existing knowledge in two domains: middle-aged
and older womens body experience, and positive body image. In
addition, the results have theoretical implications for the conceptualization of positive body image as something beyond simply
the absence of body dissatisfaction. Overall, the results contribute
to a more complex and rich understanding of adult womens body
experience.
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