Analysis

The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-30 (SATAQ-30) is an assessment tool designed to evaluate individuals’ sociocultural attitudes toward appearance. It is an evolution of previous versions and includes a series of questions examining the influence of media, friends, and family on shaping individuals’ attitudes about appearance. This questionnaire is widely used in research exploring body image, eating disorders, and related psychological conditions.

Purpose

The primary goal of the SATAQ-30 is to assess the extent to which social and cultural influences affect individuals’ perceptions and attitudes about their appearance. This includes the impact of media and other external factors on expectations and beliefs about the body. By understanding these influences, researchers and clinicians can develop more effective interventions for addressing body image concerns and eating disorders.

Scoring

The SATAQ-30 consists of multiple subscales that measure different dimensions of sociocultural influences. Each subscale includes a series of statements that participants respond to using a Likert scale (typically from 1 to 5, where 1 = “strongly disagree” and 5 = “strongly agree”). The subscales may cover topics such as internalization of appearance ideals, media pressure, and social comparison. The total score is derived from summing responses to the individual statements, with higher scores indicating a greater influence of sociocultural factors on appearance perception.

Reference

Thompson, J. Kevin, van den Berg, Patricia, Roehrig, Megan, Guarda, Angela S., & Heinberg, Leslie J. (2003). The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale-30 (SATAQ-30): Development and Validation. Journal of Eating Disorders. Published online in Wiley InterScience.