When Appearance Comparisons Become Self-Disgust: The Protective Role of Self-Compassion in Disordered Eating

Abstract

Background: Not everyone who compares their appearance with others develops eating-related difficulties. Understanding why some individuals are more vulnerable than others to the psychological consequences of appearance-related comparisons remains an important challenge. This study examined whether self-disgust helps explain the association between appearance-related social comparison and disordered eating and whether selfcompassion weakens this pathway.

Methods: A total of 812 young adults (53.8% women; mean age = 22.40 years, standard deviation [SD] = 3.53) completed measures of appearance-related social comparison (Physical Appearance Comparison Scale–Revised), self-disgust (Self-Disgust Scale), self-compassion (SelfCompassion Scale), and disordered eating (Eating Attitudes Test-26). A moderated mediation model (PROCESS Model 7) was tested controlling for sex.

Results: The indirect association between appearancerelated social comparison and disordered eating through self-disgust was significant, while the direct association remained significant. Self-compassion moderated the association between appearance-related social comparison and self-disgust (B = –1.31, p < 0.001), and the conditional indirect effect decreased from 0.99 at low self-compassion to 0.40 at high self-compassion. The mediator and outcome models explained 26.7% and 36.7% of the variance, respectively. The index of moderated mediation was significant (index = –0.42, 95% confidence interval [–0.69, –0.18]). 

Conclusions: Appearance-related comparisons may become harmful when perceived appearance discrepancies are internalized as self-disgust. More importantly, self-compassion appears to reduce the likelihood that appearance-related discrepancies are translated into selfdisgust and eating-related difficulties. These findings suggest that vulnerability to disordered eating may depend not only on how individuals evaluate their appearance, but also on how they relate to themselves when confronted with perceived appearance inadequacies.