Socio-Cultural Pressure, Social Comparison and the Notion of Obesity

Subject Areas : Quarterly Journal of Woman and Society

Fatemeh Golabi ¹ , Mohammad Bagher Alizadeh Aghdam ² , Tavakkol Aghayari ³ , Akram Hobbi ⁴

1 - Associate Professor in Sociology. Department of Sociology, Faculty of law and Social Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
2 - Professor in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of law and Social Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
3 - Associate Proffesor in Demography, Department of Sociology, Faculty of law and Social Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
4 - PhD in Sociology of Economic ad Development, Department of Sociology, Faculty of law and Social Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Received: 2020-05-13 Accepted : 2020-12-29 Published : 2021-04-21

Keywords: Gender, Social Comparison, Socio-Cultural Pressures, Imagination of Obesity,

Abstract :

The concept of obesity is the image that a person has of his body as obese and thin. In today's society, culturally and socially, there is a lot of emphasis on attractiveness and physical fitness. Social comparison and socio-cultural pressure to reach women and well-being in men have led to an increase in the perception of obesity and dissatisfaction among individuals. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between socio-cultural pressure and social comparison with the concept of obesity. The research is a cross-sectional study and the research method of this study is survey and its statistical population consists of men and women aged 64-20 years in Tabriz. Using Cochran's formula, the sample size is estimated to be 400 people. Sampling method is multi-stage cluster sampling.
Findings of research show that the variables of social comparison and social pressure are directly related to imagination. Also, the results of multivariate regression show that the variables of social comparison, socio-cultural pressure and gender can explain 38.5% of the imaginary variance. For Conclusion, Social and cultural factors affect the type of perception of people from their body and can affect their perception of their appearance.

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