Pregnancy and body image in Poland: Gender roles and self-esteem during the third trimester

Abstract

Objectives: The study has two main objectives: (1) assessment of the perception of body image among a sample of women in their third trimester of pregnancy; and (2) examination of the relationship between body image, gender role orientation, gender role stress and self-esteem. Background: Body image has received much attention in the psychological literature, but little work has been conducted with pregnant women or outside of the United States. Research suggests that women experience both anxieties and positive emotions about their body image during pregnancy, which might be associated with their personal characteristics. Methods: 100 pregnant women were approached in seven different ‘Schools of Birth’ in Poland. Participants completed questionnaires assessing body image, feminine gender role stress, psychological masculinity–femininity and self-esteem during their third trimester of pregnancy. Results: Pregnant Polish women generally have a positive body image, which is positively associated with self-esteem. Feminine gender role stress was related to a negative body image, masculinity and androgyny positively correlated with body image. Structural equation modelling suggests that body image is a mediator between gender factors and self-esteem. Conclusion: Our findings underline the multidimensional nature of the body image and the importance of mediating factors in predicting the psychological outcomes of pregnancy.

Keywords:

• pregnancy
• body image
• gender role stress
• gender role orientation
• self-esteem

Acknowledgement

This publication was prepared with the financial support of The Foundation For Polish Science (FNP).

Notes

1. We also conducted additional analyses of our respondent’s scores on all four body image dimensions, comparing our data to 272 Polish female students reported by Mirucka (2005). Although these are of course quite 9 different population, it is notable that the pregnant women in our study reported a significantly higher body image score overall (Cohen’s d .38), with significantly higher scores on experience of intimate relations (d .58) and acceptance of one’s body (d .44), and (non-significantly) higher scores on the other two dimensions.