The Impact of Verbal Violence on Body Investment and Self-Worth among College Students

ABSTRACT

This study explores the relationship between exposure to verbal violence, body investment, and contingencies of self-worth among college students. The study hypotheses are that (a) gender differences will be found in exposure to types of verbal violence, (b) body investment and contingencies of self-worth will be positively interrelated, and (c) exposure to verbal violence will be related to students’ body investment and contingencies of self-worth. A total of 300 Israeli students participated in the current study, 206 females (69%) and 94 males (31%), ages 19–47 years. The participants self-reported demographic information and completed an exposure to verbal violence questionnaire, the Body Investment scale, and the Contingencies of Self-Worth scale. The study found that students’ evaluation of their own physical appearance is the strongest predictor of global self-esteem that is affected by being exposed to verbal violence. The findings show the importance of understanding the effects of exposure to verbal violence on contingencies of self-worth and of body investment as a predictor of contingencies of self-worth. We recommend creating intervention programs that address the consequences of verbal violence on body investment and self-worth to improve quality of life.

KEYWORDS:

• Contingencies of self-worth
• gender differences
• body image
• appearance
• self-image
• self-esteem
• verbal violence

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all of the authors, the corresponding author (Karni-Vizer Nirit and Walter Ofra) states that there is no conflict of interest. A human rights and informed consent statement or an animal rights statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the local ethical committee of Tel Hai College. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [institutional and national] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.