Body image and lifestyle in young women from Poland and Japan: [Body image and lifestyle in Poles and Japanese]

• Participants were female students from Poland and Japan.
• Declarations about body image and lifestyle were examined.
• Groups differed in attributes of beauty and susceptibility to the effect of the media.
• Groups differed in some aspects of diet and physical activities.
• Both groups were similar in terms of body satisfaction and the desire to improve it.

synopsisThe aim of the study was to compare chosen aspects of body image and lifestyle in female students from Poland and Japan. The study was attended exclusively by women due to the criterion of homogeneity of the research group and the importance of research variables in the study area characterized by female population. Students (N = 203) completed a questionnaire about self-evaluation of appearance, preferred pattern of female attractiveness, physical activity, nutrition, and mental hygiene. Differences between groups were related to: sense of body proportionality, imitation of the model of attractiveness presented in media, ideal of femininity, ways to improve appearance, the most important aspect of body, the most important attribute of femininity, leisure time activities, the reason for dieting, kind of food eaten most frequently, places of buying of prepared meals. Students from Poland and Japan were similar in self-evaluation of their own appearance and mental hygiene. However, they differed in their preferred model of physical attractiveness and in some aspects of nutrition and physical activities.