The assessment of body image investment: an extensive revision of the appearance schemas inventory

Abstract

Objective: The Appearance Schemas Inventory (ASI) is a 14-item instrument that assesses body image investment in relation to certain beliefs or assumptions about the importance, meaning, and influence of appearance in one's life. Despite empirical support of the ASI, critical examination evinces several limitations of this assessment. These problems entail the inclusion of explicitly self-evaluative items and social stereotypes, few behavioral items, and a repeated failure to find expected gender differences on the ASI.

Method: We initially constructed a 45-item measure (40 new items plus 5 original items) and administered it, along with the original ASI and other validational assessments, to 603 college students (468 women and 135 men).

Results: The end result was a 20-item revision of the inventory (ASI-R), which included two factors: Self-Evaluative Salience and Motivational Salience. For both genders, the composite ASI-R and its two factors had high internal consistency and were significantly convergent with other pertinent measures of body image and psychosocial functioning. The ASI-R and its two subscales showed significant gender differences, whereas the original ASI did not. We also examined racial differences on the ASI-R, its correlations with body mass, and its unique contribution to the prediction of disturbed eating attitudes.

Discussion: We offer this measure as an improved, psychometrically sound replacement for the ASI.