Appearance investment: The construct that changed the field of body image.

In the mid-1990s, Thomas F. Cash developed the construct of appearance investment and an instrument to measure it, the Appearance Schemas Inventory (ASI). This was followed by a significant revision of this measure, the ASI-R. This instrument distinguished two dimensions to appearance investment, one referring to engagement in behaviours meant to improve appearance esthetics, and one referring to the importance of appearance for self-definition. The construct of appearance investment and its measurement gave rise to a new area of research that widened our understanding of body image beyond the ubiquitous construct of satisfaction. In this paper, we review the literature on appearance investment and offer conclusions based on the different study designs in which either the ASI or ASI-R were used. This is followed by general conclusions about the current state of the research on appearance investment, and future directions to improve our understanding of the factors contributing to the development of excessive investment in appearance.

Interpersonal rejection results in increased appearance satisfaction for women who rely on body weight for self-worth.

This study examined whether body weight contingent self-worth (BWCSW), the tendency to base self-worth on body weight, moderates the effects of interpersonal rejection on self-esteem and body satisfaction. In an online survey, female undergraduates (N=148) completed measures of trait self-esteem, depression, and BWCSW. In a subsequent lab session, participants were assigned to either an interpersonal rejection or to a neutral control condition, after which they completed measures of state self-esteem and body satisfaction. Compared to women with lower BWCSW, women with higher BWCSW reported lower appearance self-esteem (p=.001) and body satisfaction (p=.004) across conditions. However, they reacted to rejection by reporting greater appearance self-esteem (p=.034) and body satisfaction (p=.021). Rejection had no effect on women with lower BWCSW. The reaction of women with higher BWCSW is interpreted as a compensatory self-enhancement response to interpersonal rejection within a self-important domain.