Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
The perception of one’s beauty, or reference to oneself as someone beautiful, refers to the aesthetical aspect of a person’s self-identification. The deformation of this aesthetical self-perception can interrupt one’s self-identification process and provokes complex negative emotional experiences. This article aims to define the connection between the deformation of person’s aesthetical self-perception, ideas of beauty, emotional reactions, and conditions determined by these deformations. We argue that the deformation of aesthetical self-perception results in a person’s negative emotional reactions to certain conditions. To prove this thesis we’ve conducted an experiment that consisted of a series of individual psychological consultations using an empathetic approach. 178 people, healthy men and women aged 17 to 54, took part in this study, all of them requesting the services of a counsellor psychologist. Among them, 30 were treated with an empathic counselling therapy. The deformation of an aesthetical self-perception showed in 65% of clients’ discontent with their appearance, their obsessions about losing their beauty, and a concern about their unattractiveness. This deformation appeared to be provoked by previous emotionally unstable, traumatic situations in which a client’s appearance and abilities were judged harshly and criticized. This problem influenced clients’ emotional reactions and their self-esteem negatively. It provoked a crisis in their self-identification process, owing to aesthetical issues. When a person identifies himself or herself with his or her aesthetical image – both external and internal – he or she either successfully identifies himself or herself as beautiful or else resists this identification by rejecting his or her own aesthetical image. Our findings suggest that people’s negative emotional reactions result from a deformed aesthetical self-perception. Results of this study highlight one of the most important and sensitive aspects of self-identification.