Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Department of Anthropology, Moscow
Psychosomatic aspects of anthropological characteristics of different samples and individuals represent a longtime interest for human sciences. From the beginning of the past century, studies on psychosomatic associations within the framework of domestic physical anthropology were conducted in line with the comprehensive approach to human individual as a complex biosocial phenomenon. Self-esteem occupies special place among tested psychological characteristics, being an important indicator of psychological well-being. Both self-esteem and psychosomatic associations, identified on its basis, can vary depending on age, sex and social status. It can be assumed that the structure of psychosomatic associations represents self-contained and important group characteristic. To check this assumption, we compare the psychosomatic relations in several sex and age samples. The following samples were studied: young adolescents (145 girls and 125 boys between 12 and 15 years of age), older adolescents (50 girls and 25 boys between 16 and 17 years of age) and young adults (80 males and 146 females between 18 and 28 years of age). All materials were collected in compliance with the rules of bioethics and the law on personal data protection, and were further subjected to depersonalization. The survey included anthropometry and interviews with the use of graphical scale of self-esteem developed by T. Dembo and S. Rubinstein. For statistical processing of data, correlation analysis and factor analysis were applied. Among the girls in the group of younger adolescents, there is a slight negative correlation between self-esteem and the main dimensions of the body. Among the boys of this age, correlation coefficients of self-esteem with the main morphological features are close to zero. The direction of psychosomatic associations and their intensity is the same for both boys and girls of 16-17 years of age: the correlation coefficients between self-esteem and morphological features are quite high in magnitude, negative in direction and reach the level of statistical significance in a few cases. For adult females, the weakening of psychosomatic associations can be observed, but their direction remains the same. The weakening of psychosomatic associations can be considered as a reflection of positive social adaptation of adult females compared to older adolescents. In young males, the direction of psychosomatic associations changes in comparison with older adolescents, which is reflected in the shift from negative to positive correlation coefficients. Masculine physique features of young males begin to have a significant positive impact on their self-esteem. The results of factor analysis confirm the results on psychosomatic correlation analysis. Our results complement and extend modern ideas about the peculiarities of certain age stages, gender specificity of the processes of maturation and social adaptation, and they confirm the importance of studying the structure of psychosomatic associations for more in-depth characteristics of different age, gender and social samples.
psychosomatic aspects, self- esteem, adolescents, students
Цит.: Bakholdina V.Yu., Blagova K.N., Samorodova M.A. Age and gender aspects of psycho-somatic associations (using data on three Moscow samples of adolescents and students) // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2017; 1/2017; с. 57-65
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