“I’m a Million Times More Confident Now”: Body Dissatisfaction, Body Projects, and Self-Concept Repair

Abstract

This research examines how feelings of body dissatisfaction arise, are experienced, and are managed over time. Analyzing female bodybuilders’ life histories, I find that negative reflected appraisals and social comparisons problematized aspects of each woman’s body during adolescence, generating body dissatisfaction and self-concept damage. Each responded by engaging in long-term body projects. These projects assuaged negative emotions and bolstered feelings of self-efficacy. By showing how body dissatisfaction develops, is managed, and shapes the unfolding of lives, this article contributes to our understanding of how the body is implicated in emotion work and how context limits possibilities for repairing damaged self-conceptions.