Relationship between self and physical body: an examination of the phenomenon of disconnect

TL;DRAbstract

Different levels of connectedness characterize the relationship between self and body between individuals as well as across situations. Specifically, the potential of the physical body to be regarded as an object introduces the possibility of trait and state body disconnect. In this dissertation, body disconnect is defined as the psychological separation of the self from the physical body. Three studies explored the experience of disconnect in women and men. The first study validated a measure of body disconnect and examined the prevalence of the phenomenon in women and men. Results were generally consistent with hypotheses: the body disconnect measure demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity. However, women did not evidence greater trait levels of body disconnect than men. The second study tested the relative impact of appearance and competence threats on women and men’s experience of state disconnect. Results indicated that competence threats caused women and men to psycholo

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