Hosted by Fiona MacCallum

Refreshments in Common room at 3.30pm

“I Don’t Like the Way I Look”: Using strategic partnerships to scale-up research and interventions to tackle a pressing social issue.  

Interest in ‘looks’ has a long history, but in current society the emphasis on physical appearance is particularly marked. In response to unrelenting pressure messages from various forms of media, advertising and from prevailing social norms, for many, the value placed on outward appearance has become disproportionate to other aspects of self-esteem and self-worth. The prevalence of dissatisfaction and anxiety about appearance is considerable, and research demonstrates a raft of negative impacts for young people and adults in key areas of living, including psychological wellbeing, physical health, educational, occupational and social functioning. A key challenge for interventionists in this field is to find ways of ameliorating and in the longer term, preventing the associated distress at scale. This talk will describe the development of two key strategic partnerships, one with health care professionals across the UK and the second with a key commercial supplier of cosmetic products, to illustrate current efforts to tackle this pressing social issue. 

Nichola Rumsey PhD OBE

Professor Emerita

Centre for Appearance Research,

UWE, Bristol