Watching My Weight: Self-Weighing, Body Surveillance, and Body Dissatisfaction

Understanding of the benefits of self-weighing are currently mixed, particularly with respect to women’s psychological health. Applying Objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997), we explored the role of body surveillance as a mechanism in the link between self-weighing, a common weight management technique, and body dissatisfaction. The study was cross-sectional and the sample included primarily Caucasian, US college students from the Northeast (N = 145). Participants completed measures of self-weighing, body surveillance, and body dissatisfaction. We predicted that body surveillance would mediate the positive relation between self-weighing and body dissatisfaction. Results supported our prediction; however additional work is necessary to clarify the potential negative effects of self-weighing on women’s body image.