Date of Award

Summer 1981

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Siegel, Hildegarde

Second Advisor

Miller, Judith

Third Advisor

Stollenwerk, Ruth

Abstract

Previous research has examined the relationships between visible body changes and nonvisible body changes and body image. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship that visible and nonvisible body changes had to both body image and self-concept. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) Individuals who have visible body alterations will have lower body cathexis scores than individuals who have nonvisible body alterations. (2) Individuals who have visible body alterations will have lower self-cathexis scores than individuals who have nonvisible body alterations. Two groups of twenty subjects each were investigated. All subjects underwent a surgical intervention due to a diagnosis of cancer. One group had visible body alterations and the other had nonvisible alterations. Each group was given the Secord and Jourard body cathexis and self-cathexis questionnaire. Mean scores from each group were subjected to a one-tailed t-test at the 0.05 level of significance. No significant differences were found in the mean scores of each group, providing no support to the hypotheses.

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