Body Cathexis and Actual Clothing Styles of Middle-aged Women According to Perception of Their Body

중년여성의 신체부위 인지유형에 따른 신체만족도와 착의 의복 스타일

This study is designed for improving wearing styles for middle-aged women who are in unsatisfactory body types and also providing the basic information about the suitable clothing designs for them. This study focuses on what kinds of body types they perceive, what the differences are between the perception of their body types and the real ones, and how the actual clothing styles can be affected by those perceived body types. This study is based on the survey of the perception of body types, the clothing styles, and the satisfaction level of body cathexis, while measuring body size of each person responded. The data were analyzed by Mean, ANOVA, Duncan-test of SPSS Win. (ver 10.1)program. The results are as follows: 1. The perception of their body types can be categorized into three clusters, the obesity, the arm & leg obesity, the slender. 2. By and large, Middle-aged women perceive their body types exactly what they we. However, they show a relatively subjective view on the upper arm girth, ankle girth, and arm length 3. The abdomen is at the lowest satisfactory part in body cathexis for the entire groups responded, and there are some differences among the perception of their body types in whole body silhouette and trunk. 4. Middle-aged women who perceive themselves as a bit slender show a tendency of having tight and revealing clothing styles, while the obese who perceived themselves wouldn't take them as appropriate dresses.