The Effect Of Fat Talk On Body Image Of Female College Students:the Mediating Role Of Self-acceptance

Obesity talk is a situation that occurs between two or more women and presents around the topics of weight,obesity,figure,body shape,clothing and diet.It shows that a woman is dissatisfied with her weight or body.Usually,a woman expresses her dissatisfaction with her weight or body and says negative and self deprecating words.Other women respond positively,deny the woman’s view of her obesity and appease her.As a common cultural conversation topic,obesity talk has penetrated into the daily life of many female friends and affected their life attitudes.In view of this,in recent years,scholars at home and abroad have gradually studied the impact of obesity talk,its mediating factors and regulatory effects.Confucius’ doctrine of the mean focuses on how to deal with people and things,emphasizing personal cultivation and self-cultivation;Emphasize "harmony is the most important" in interpersonal communication.As a traditional Chinese culture,the doctrine of the mean has a profound impact on the Chinese people.In real life,people follow the doctrine of the mean and pursue the unity of body and mind;Emphasize harmonious coexistence in interpersonal relationships.Specifically,talking and chatting parties usually praise each other while exposing their shortcomings and disadvantages,or express euphemistically to appease each other in order to take into account their feelings.No matter what the process is,people try to make both sides feel happy when talking,so they seldom point out or admit the shortcomings of each other.The "obesity talk" put forward by western countries is that individuals derogate from themselves and the overall discussion atmosphere is negative,while the obesity talk of Chinese people appeases each other,and the discussion atmosphere is not all negative.Therefore,in the specific context of obesity talk,there are differences between China and Western countries.Influenced by the principle of "harmony is the most important" in the golden mean culture of China,the research on localized obesity talk may be different from the research conclusions of western countries.As a positive attitude about individuals and their characteristics,self acceptance has been proved to have an impact on body image in domestic studies.Self acceptance means a positive and receptive attitude towards oneself,including body image（whether fat or thin）.The relationship among obesity talk,self acceptance and body image is not clear.Therefore,this study attempts to take self acceptance as an intermediary factor to explore its relationship with obesity talk and body image.In Study 1 and Study 2,the effects of obesity talk on body image and self acceptance were tested by reading obesity talk situational dialogue.In Study 3,290 female college students were tested with body image scale（BISS）,self acceptance questionnaire and obesity talk scale.The specific results are as follows:（1）In Study 1,the body image scores of subjects in the obesity talk group and the travel talk group were 32.28 and 30.75 respectively.In Study 2,the posttest self acceptance scores of subjects in obesity talk group and travel talk group were 42.15 and 41.35 respectively.In Study 3,the subjects’ body image score was 31.39,self acceptance score was 40.61,and obesity talk frequency score was 35.28.The female college students in this study generally have good body image and self acceptance,and sometimes or often participate in obesity talk.（2）Female college students’ body image and self acceptance scores were improved when they read obesity talk dialogue.（3）There was a positive correlation between obesity talk and body image（r=0.184）;There was a positive correlation between obesity talk and self acceptance（r=0.139）;There was a positive correlation between body image and self acceptance（r=0.315）.（4）Obesity talk has a positive predictive effect on body image,and self acceptance plays an intermediary role in the prediction of obesity talk on body image.Conclusion: Obesity talk behavior is not a negative behavior.Through talking about obesity,young women express their dissatisfaction with their bodies in front of their friends.In this process,they get the affirmation and comfort of their friends about their bodies,which helps them to accept themselves and improve their acceptance and satisfaction with their bodies,that is,the level of body image.This result is not consistent with the previous results obtained in western countries.One of the reasons is that Chinese women follow the principle of "peace is the most valuable" in the process of talking about obesity,and sincerely praise each other during the conversation.When talking about obesity,they generally do not admit that they are in a better shape than the other party,and can comfort the other party.Although the other party is in a fat shape,they reduce their body anxiety,accept themselves more and increase their satisfaction with the body.Therefore,this study believes that women’s talk about obesity is not a negative behavior,and suggests that when talking about obesity,they should improve their tolerance of their own and others’ bodies,change the aesthetic standard of "taking thin as beauty",and develop a diversified aesthetic standard from external beauty to internal beauty.