Am I too fat or too thin? How your own self-perception deceives

What influences our human self-perception?
Many people have a problem with their self-awareness. Often they find themselves too fat and would like to lose some weight. Some find themselves too thin or have other difficulties to accept their body. So a professional athlete is likely to say very quickly that he has to lose weight, even if he has only gained three kilograms. Outsiders would certainly judge the situation differently and think that the athlete still has a great figure and is not in the least too fat. How can it be that two different opinions can arise in this example? It becomes clear that we perceive ourselves quite differently than other people. But what does it depend on how we perceive ourselves? A study by the Max Planck Institute deals exactly with this topic and tries to find answers.

As good as everyone knows the problem: When we start to look at old photos or film footage of us, there are always some in between, which seem to be unfavorable. Sometimes we feel like we're looking too fat, the clothes are not sitting properly, or the colors we wear are not good. If we search long enough, we are guaranteed to find something negative. What does it matter if we find ourselves looking better on certain pictures than on others? Why do we have the feeling to look fat on some shots and what kind of clothing do we find advantageous to look good on pictures? Exactly these questions were now being researched by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. Of the results, the health insurance AOK reported in a press release.

Many people feel that they are too fat, even if others rate their figure as athletic. (Image: Photographee.eu/fotolia.com)

3-D full body models help to estimate self-perception
To clarify all these questions, the scientists used realistic 3D body models. These should help the research group on body and space perception to determine how far self-perception deviates from reality. The body models were all women between the ages of 30 and 40 years. With the help of a four-dimensional whole-body scanner, all the data of the subjects were accurately recorded and converted into a 3D model. This enabled the researchers to develop an avatar (artificial person or graphic figure on a computer). This should look as true to life as possible and should also resemble the original model in the movements. For this reason Ivelina Piryankova needed from the research group as much and as accurate information and information about the body, which represents the real model for the avatar.

Shape or color patterns affect the perception?
Together with the Department of Perceptive Systems, the researchers developed the avatars at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. Mainly the doctors wanted to test whether the shape of an avatar or its color pattern applied to affect the perception of weight. In addition, the physicians wanted to find out what impact the factors have on our self-perception. For this purpose, they scanned the subjects' bodies and easily changed the BMI. Then the participating women were shown avatars, which had either the same body proportions as their role models or simply average measures.

Slimmer always, never thicker
The results of the study helped to determine exactly how people can assess their own body weight. It was possible to observe exactly what effect the figure or the pattern of the avatar had on the self-perception of the subjects. So it became clear that the participants could actually assess their own weight correctly, but women in general would rather accept a slimmer body than their own, explain the researchers A thicker avatar than the own body was not accepted.

With the data collected from this study, physicians can use the results to develop completely new methods for measuring people's self-perception. Ivelina Piryankova said in an opinion that this new procedure also allows for alternative experiences. For example, people with physical and visual disorders could benefit greatly from the results. These include, for example, patients who have suffered a stroke and can no longer move or recognize individual limbs as their own. Even people with an eating disorder can be helped by the findings and new procedures to better deal with their disease, said the researchers from the Max Planck Institute. Ivelina Piryankova has also published a scientific publication on this topic at Logos Verlag Berlin. (As)