Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Appearance

We live in a society in which messages associating physical attractiveness with success and happiness are pervasive. There is an epidemic of appearance concerns amongst teenagers and adults in westernised countries and body image dissatisfaction is now considered normative. Large numbers of people experience negative impacts on wellbeing and, for many adolescents, adults, and even children, appearance concerns are influential in choices about a range of health behaviours. The challenges facing them include difficulties with social encounters and the problem of having to cope with negative self perceptions. The Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Appearance is a comprehensive reference text written by experts in the field. It examines how people feel about the way they look, and why it is that some people are happy with their appearance whilst increasing numbers are troubled by the way they look - reporting that these appearance-related concerns affect many aspects of their lives including relationships, health and well-being. It considers the influence of other people and how the media affects thoughts and behaviours related to appearance. It explores the experiences of people living with a disfigurement in a society that seems to be increasingly focussed on appearance and the pursuit of an idealised image of beauty, size and weight. Exploring a topic that has been often neglected in the psychological literature, this book will be invaluable for health, clinical, and social psychologists, health professionals working with patients with visible differences, and those in the field of public health and education.

Introduction

Setting the Scene
. 1: Overview
. 2: Appearance and Society
. 3: Embodiment and Appearance
. 4: Cross-cultural Differences
. 5: Challenges in Health Care Provision in the UK
. 6: Challenges in Health Care Provision in the USA
. 7: Challenges in Health Care Provision in Resource-Poor Countries
. 8: A Sociological Perspective in Biomedical Technologies and Appearance
. 9: Researching Appearance: Models, Theories, and Frameworks
. 10 Summary and Synthesis

Who is affected by appearance concerns, in what way, and why?
. 11: Overview

Across the lifespan
. 12: Appearance in Childhood and Adolescence
. 13: Appearance in Adulthood
. 14: Appearance in Later Life

Individual differences in adjustment and distress
. 15: Gender
. 16: Lesbian, Gay and Bisexualities, Appearance and Body Image
. 17: Culture and Ethnicity,
. 18: Influence of the Media
. 19 The Role of the Family
. 20: Influence of Peers
. 21: Adult Psychosocial Adjustment to Visible Differences: Physical and Psychological Predictors of Variation

Consequences of Appearance Concerns
. 22 Appearance and Exercise
. 23: Understanding the Too Fat Body and the Too Thin Body: A Critical Psychological Perspective
. 24: Appearance Concerns, Dietary Restriction and Disordered Eating
. 25: Cosmetic Procedures

Experiences of people who have a visible difference
. 26: Congenital Conditions
. 27: Trauma - with special reference to burn injury
. 28: Visible Difference Associated with Disease: Skin conditions
. 29: When Treatment Affects Appearance
. 30: Summary and Synthesis

What needs to change and how can change be achieved
. 31: Section Overview

Societal Interventions
. 32: Role of the Media
. 33: Persuading the Public: New face values for the 21st Century
. 34: Changing Provision of Healthcare Settings in the United Kingdom
. 35: Interventions for Families and Healthcare Professionals
. 36: Regulation of Cosmetic Surgery

Interventions at an individual or group level
. 37: School Based Interventions to Promote Positive Body Image and the Acceptance of Diversity in Appearance
. 38: Therapeutic Interventions: Evidence of effectiveness
. 39: Computer Based Psychosocial Intervention
. 40: Using Appearance Concerns to Promote Health
. 41: Summary and Synthesis

Research Issues
. 42: Overview
. 43: Methodological Issues in the Study of Body Image and Appearance,
. 44: Using Retrospective Approaches in the Study of Disfigurement
. 45: Mixed Methods: The best of both worlds?
. 46: Methodological Choices (Online research)
. 47: Using Novel Methods in Appearance Research
. 48: Promoting Participant Voices in Research
. 49: Summary and Synthesis

The Psychology of Appearance
. 50: The Future

Index

Professor Rumsey is VTCT Professor of Appearance Research at UWE and is Co-Director of the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR). Following the completion of her PhD “Psychological Problems Associated with Facial Disfigurement” in 1983, Nichola has built an international reputation for her research in this field and has attracted funding from a variety of bodies to support research on appearance. Nichola was awarded a personal Chair by UWE in 2002. She was elected President of the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain & Ireland in 2003-4 (the first psychologist to be elected to this position), and Chair of the British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology from 2005-6. She was awarded honorary membership of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in 2009. Dr Harcourt was appointed Reader in Health Psychology at UWE in 2006, and is Co-Director of the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR). Her interest in the psychological consequences of changes to appearance led her to conduct her PhD research into women's experiences of mastectomy and breast reconstruction after a diagnosis of cancer. Her PhD was supervised by Professor Nichola Rumsey, with whom she has worked closely since the inception of the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) in 1998. She was Chair of the British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology from 2009-10.