Analysis of the Relationship Between Physical Self-Concept and Body Image Dissatisfaction in Female Students‪.‬

INTRODUCTION Body image is a psychological construct which refers to self-concept including self image and feelings an individual perceives about his or her body. Body image can significantly affect the way an individual perceives and interacts with the surrounding environment. An individual with a distorted body image may also suffer from low self-concept or lack feelings of self-worth, based on perceived physical appearance. The construct of body image can be broken down two and often three dimensions. The first dimension is cognitive, how an individual "thinks" he or she looks. The second is emotional, how an individual "feels" he or she looks. Last is idealistic, how an individual "wants" to look (1). All three dimensions can different at any given point in time. In Iranian culture, body image has, recently, became more significant. Many people especially women spend tremendous expenditure of time, effort and money to alert their appearances to resemble an idea image. The term body image has numerous connotations associated with it particularly for females. Females are more likely than male to struggle with body image distortion mainly due to societal messages which are often conflicting and confusing regarding female roles and expectations. Because of this analysis of the relationship between Physical self-concept and body Image dissatisfaction is of great importance.