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Body Image And Body Images

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For many years, people have been debated about dancers’ perceptions, thoughts and feelings of body image. Many people think a dancer’s personal vision of their body image is an important part of their psychological health and well-being and can help or hinder their dance performance.

But what is body image? Body image is both perceptual (what we see) and affective (how we feel about what we see) (Rudd & Carter, 2006). Cash, (2004) referred body image to the multifaceted psychological experience of embodiment, especially one’s physical appearance and encompasses one’s body-related self-perceptions and self-attitudes, including thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors. Body image has also been defined as the collection of beliefs and attitudes individuals have concerning their appearance (Eklund & Masberg, 2014). Body image relates to a person’s perceptions, feelings and thoughts about his or her body, and is usually conceptualized as incorporating body size estimation, evaluation of body attractiveness and emotions associated with body shape and size (Grogan, 2006).

Ravaldi et al., (2003) also defined body image as a picture we have in our minds of the size, shape and form of our bodies and body parts. Body image and the believes, attitudes, and values we acquire throughout our lives can be attributed to social factors that support how we think we should think, look, and act (Heiland, Murray, & Edley, 2008). Also, the attitude towards the body image is the

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