Women who are happy with their weight are more likely to be happy in their relationship, have greater self-esteem, and be less self-conscious about their body, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the British Psychological Society's Division of Clinical Psychology, held from Dec. 4 to 6 in York, U.K.
FRIDAY, Dec. 6, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- Women who are happy with their weight are more likely to be happy in their relationship, have greater self-esteem, and be less self-conscious about their body, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the British Psychological Society's Division of Clinical Psychology, held from Dec. 4 to 6 in York, U.K.
Sabina Vatter, from Tallinn University in Estonia, and colleagues surveyed 256 women (20 to 45 years old) about body weight satisfaction and the association with relationship satisfaction, satisfaction with sexual intimacy, and self-esteem. Of these, 71.5 percent were cohabitating and 28.5 percent were married.
The researchers found that greater body weight satisfaction was associated with greater relationship satisfaction and self-esteem and lower body image self-consciousness. Greater body weight satisfaction was also associated with lower body mass index (present and ideal). Women who were on a diet were less satisfied with their body weight, were more self-conscious, and had higher body mass indices than women who were not on a diet. There was no association between body weight satisfaction and sexual intimacy satisfaction.
"These findings suggest that our satisfaction with body size, shape, and weight has more to do with how happy we are in important areas of our lives, like our romantic relationships, than it does with what the bathroom scales say," Vatter said in a statement.
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