Body Shaming, Cognitive Distortions, and Emotional Regulation among Young Adults
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67303/jcit.v1i2.24Keywords:
Body Shaming, Cognitive Distortions, Emotional Regulation, Young Adults, Body Image, Mental Health.Abstract
Body shaming has become an increasingly prevalent psychosocial issue among young adults, driven by unrealistic beauty standards, social comparison, and the widespread influence of digital media. Repeated exposure to appearance-based criticism has been associated with adverse psychological outcomes, including distorted cognitive processing and impaired emotional functioning. Although previous research has examined body image dissatisfaction, cognitive distortions, and emotional regulation independently, empirical investigations integrating these constructs within a single psychological framework remain limited, particularly among young adults in Pakistan. The present study investigated the relationship among body shaming, cognitive distortions, and emotional regulation using a quantitative cross-sectional correlational design. A purposive sample of 150 young adults aged 18–25 years was recruited from colleges and universities. Standardized psychological instruments, including the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS), Cognitive Error Scale (CES), and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), were used to assess the study variables. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 21 and included descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson product–moment correlation, regression analysis, hierarchical regression, and independent-samples t-tests. The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between body shaming and cognitive distortions, whereas emotional regulation was negatively associated with both body shaming and cognitive distortions. Hierarchical regression analysis further demonstrated that emotional regulation significantly moderated the relationship between body shaming and cognitive distortions. These findings highlight the protective role of adaptive emotional regulation in reducing the psychological impact of body shaming. The study contributes to the growing literature on body image and mental health by providing evidence from a developing-country context and offers practical implications for clinicians, educators, and mental health professionals working with young adults.
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