Body image and bodyschema: what in between when embodied and exbodied body representation falls apart?

Zatti A

Published on: 1970-01-01

Abstract

The main hypothesis of this work is that the embodiment processes, primarily dependent on cultural pressure, have to be seen in unstable equilibrium with exbodiment experiences, which can be considered as the expression of body schema originated by personal sensory-motor history [1-3]. In order to evaluate the possible separation between the two, a new pictures questionnaire has been elaborated. Dysmorphic "confusion" is widely spreading in contemporary western societies, particularly among adolescents [4.5]. The perception of how we are seen by others (body image) is one of the core issues in social trends, education, and psychopathology [6]. On the other hand, what one implicitly knows of his/her somatic body (body schema) represents the psychological antecedent basis implied in social interaction [2]. This article attempts to give a quantitative dimension to the two sides of the body, the structural, implicit one (body-schema) and the public, partly self-controlled one (body-image).