Dr. Lisa Mask Receives Insight Development Grant to Study Body Image in Mature Women

Dr. Lisa Mask has received an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in the amount of $60,071 for a project entitled “Looking out the window or looking in the mirror? The role of social and temporal comparisons in middle-aged women’s body image evaluations and attitudes towards aging.” Dr. Mask will investigate the role that social and temporal comparisons play in influencing women’s thoughts and feelings about their body and aging in midlife, and whether self-compassion may help to attenuate these effects. Indeed, the transition through middle adulthood may lead to women’s increased dissatisfaction with their bodies because of age-related changes, yet very little is known about the factors and processes that explain why these feelings of discontent occur. Dr. Mask’s research will draw upon social and temporal comparison theories and will examine how middle-aged women compare themselves to others (social comparison) as well as with their past and anticipated future selves (temporal comparison). These comparisons will have important implications for women’s self-evaluations of their appearance and of their physical condition as well as their attitudes toward aging and their self-improvement motivation.