"Only When I’m Idle Do I Pay Attention to Myself in the Mirror"：The Underlying Concern behind Appearance Anxiety among Chinese Female College Students

Appearance anxiety has become a widespread sociocultural phenomenon among contemporary Chinese young women, yet the deeper developmental concerns that underlie this anxiety remain under‑examined. This study investigates what appearance anxiety is really about for Chinese female college students and how identity work may attenuate such anxiety. This study conducted semi‑structured one‑on‑one interviews with 14 Chinese female college students and analyzed transcripts using reflexive thematic analysis. Interviewees often equated others’ approval with self‑realization, and uncritical adherence to narrow beauty ideals intensified anxiety. They recognized that their excessive focus on appearance sometimes served as a refuge for feelings of worthlessness and idleness. Through ongoing self‑exploration, they gradually abandoned the pursuit of “perfection” defined by others, embraced authentic self‑presentation, and built confidence by developing “acquired abilities” beyond appearance. Body‑image journeys were experienced as developmental processes of self‑acceptance, self‑exploration, and self‑improvement—the underlying concern of “appearance anxiety” was frequently confusion about self‑identity rather than appearance per se. Psychological practitioners and youth workers should promote holistic capability development and cultivate multiple sources of self‑worth to help young people move from externally‑driven appearance concerns toward stable self‑identity.

Appearance Anxiety; Body Image

1. Arnett, J. J. (2015). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Bartky, S. L. (1988). Foucault, femininity, and the modernization of patriarchal power. In I. Diamond & L. Quinby (Eds.), Feminism and foucault: Reflections on resistance (pp. 61–86). Boston: Northeastern University Press [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Bermúdez, J.L., Marcel,A., & Eilan,N.. (1995). The Body and the Self. The MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/1640.001.0001 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2012) Thematic analysis. In H. Cooper, P. M. Camic, D. L. Long, A. T. Panter, D. Rindskopf, & K. J. Sher (Eds), APA handbook of research methods in psychology, Vol. 2: Research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, neuropsychological, and biological (pp. 57-71). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Cash, T. F. (2002). A “negative body image”: Evaluating epidemiological evidence. In T. F. Cash & T. Pruzinsky (Eds.), Body image: A handbook of theory, research, and clinical practice (pp. 269–276). New York: Guilford Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Cash, T. F. (2012). Cognitive-Behavioral Perspectives on Body Image. In Encyclopedia of body image and human appearance (T. Cash, Ed.; 1st ed., p.334-341). Elsevier Inc. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Cash, T. F., & Szymanski, M. L. (1995). The development and validation of the body-image ideals questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64(3), 466–477. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa64036 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. China Youth Daily (2021, February 25). 调查：近六成大学生有容貌焦虑 女生焦虑感更强[Survey: nearly 60% of college students have appearance anxiety female anxiety is stronger].中国新闻. Retrieved May21, 2023, from https://www.chinanews.com/sh/2021/02-25/9418538.shtml [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Cook-Cottone, C., & Phelps, L. A.(2003). Body dissatisfaction in college women: Identification of risk and protective factors to guide college counselling practices. Journal of College Counselling, pp. 6, 80–89. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Cooley, C. H., (1998).On self and social organization. Chicago : University of Chicago Press [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York, NY: Norton. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York, NY: Norton [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Friedan, B., (1963). The Feminine Mystique. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Frisén, A., Lunde, C., & Berg, A. T. (2015). Developmental patterns in body esteem from late childhood to young adulthood: A growth curve analysis. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12(1), 99–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2014.951033 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Gattario, K. H., & Frisén, A. (2019). From negative to positive body image: Men’s and women’s journeys from early adolescence to emerging adulthood. Body Image, 28, 53–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.12.002 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Grogan, S. (2017). Body image: Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Jones, D. C., Vigfusdottir, T. H., & Lee, Y. (2004). Body image and the appearance culture among adolescent girls and boys: An examination of friend conversations, peer criticism, appearance magazines, and the internalization of appearance ideals. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19(3), 323–339. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558403258847 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Jung, J., Forbes, G., & Lee, Y. (2009). Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among early adolescents from Korea and the US. Sex Roles, 61(1/2), 42–54. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Kong, P., & Harris, L. M. (2015). The Sporting Body: Body Image and Eating Disorder Symptomatology Among Female Athletes from Leanness Focused and Nonleanness Focused Sports. The Journal of Psychology, 149(2), 141–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2013.846291 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Larson R. W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. The American psychologist, 55(1), 170–183. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.55.1.170 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Liu, Y. (2022). 审美与自我呈现：青年女性容貌焦虑的深层逻辑[The Underlying Logic of Appearance Anxiety in Young Women]. 中国青年研究[China Youth Studies] (05), 85-92. doi:10.19633/j.cnki.11-2579/d.2022.0072 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Liu, Y. F. (2023). 身体圈禁：社交媒体环境下青年女性的负面身体意象生成[Body Enclosure: The Formation of Negative Body Image Among Young Women in the Social Media Environment]. 中国青年研究[China Youth Studies] (05),103-110. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Mahon, C., Hamburger, D., Yager, Z., Almaraz, M., Mooney, J., Tran, T., O'Dowd, O., Bauert, L., Smith, K. G., Gomez-Trejo, V., & Webb, J. B. (2023). Pilot feasibility and acceptability trial of BE REAL's Body Kind: A universal school-based body image intervention for adolescents. Body image, 47, 101636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.101636 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harpers. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Murnen, S.K., & Seabrook, R (2012). Feminist Perspectives on Body Image and Physical Appearance. Encyclopedia of body image and human appearance (T. Cash, Ed.; 1st ed., p.440). Elsevier Inc. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Neighbors, L. A., & Sobal, J. (2007). Prevalence and magnitude of body weight and shape dissatisfaction among university students. Eating Behaviors, 8, 429–439. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Piran, N., & Teall, T. (2012). The developmental theory of embodiment. In G. McVey, M. P. Levine, N. Piran & H. B. Ferguson (Eds.), Preventing eating-related and weight-related disorders: Collaborative research, advocacy, and policy change (pp. 171–199). Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Snapp, S., Hensley-Choate, L., & Ryu, E. (2012). A body image resilience model for first-year college women. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 67(3-4), 211–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0163-1 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. The Center for Communication and State Governance Research (CCSGR). (2023, April26). 中国青年网民社会心态调查报告（2022 [Survey Report on Social Mindset of Young Chinese Internet Users (2022)]. 复旦大学传播与国家治理研究中心. Retrieved May18, 2023, from https://fddi.fudan.edu.cn/79/d1/c18985a489937/page.htm [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Tylka, T.L., (2012). Positive Psychology Perspectives on Body Image. Encyclopedia of body image and human appearance (T. Cash, Ed.; 1st ed., pp.657-663). Elsevier Inc. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Wood-Barcalow, N. L. (2006). Understanding the construct of body image to include positive components: A mixed-methods study (Doctoral dissertation). The Ohio State University. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Wood-Barcalow, N. L., Tylka, T. L., & Augustus-Horvath, C. L. (2010). "But I Like My Body": Positive body image characteristics and a holistic model for young-adult women. Body image, 7(2), 106–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2010.01.001 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Wang, N. (2001). 消费与认同一对消费社会学的一个分析框架的探索[Consumption and identity: An exploration of an analytical framework for consumer sociology]. 社会学研究[Social Science Research], (01). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Webster, J., & Tiggemann, M. (2003). The relationship between women’s body satisfaction and self-image across the life span: The role of cognitive control. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 164, 241–251. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Winnicott, D. W. (1960). Ego distortion in terms of true and false self. In The maturational process and the facilitating environment: Studies in the theory of emotional development (pp. 140–152). International Universities Press. (Original work published 1965) [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Wu, J., Lin, Z., Liu, Z., He, H., Bai, L., & Lyu, J. (2022). Secular trends in the incidence of eating disorders in China from 1990 to 2017: a joinpoint and age-period-cohort analysis. Psychological medicine, 52(5), 946–956. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720002706 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Zhang, L., Qian, H., & Fu, H. (2018). To be thin but not healthy - The bodyimage dilemma may affect health among female university students in China. PLOS One, 13(10), e0205282. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205282 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• A Comparative Study of Adjustment Level, Parental Income and Academic Achievement of Adolescent Girls
• Increase in STIs among Adolescents in Masvingo District
• A Correlation between SDG 4 (Quality Education) and Emotional Disposition of Teacher Educators in Hyderabad District
• Ear Piercing Behaviour and Self-Esteem among Male University Students in Nigeria
• A Study of Religiosity and Psychological Well-Being