Self-criticism and Fear of Negative Evaluation among University Students With and Without Obesity

The present research aimed to examine the differences in self-criticism and fear of negative evaluation among university students with and without obesity. A purposive sample of university students with obesity (n = 109) and without obesity (n = 141) with age range 18 to 25 years (M = 22, SD = 1.63) participated in the research with their full consent. The self-report instruments of Levels of Self-criticism Scale (Thompson & Zuroff, 2004) and Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation – Straightforward (Carleton, McCreary, Norton, & Asmundson, 2006) were used to measure self-criticism and fear of negative evaluation, respectively. The results confirmed a positive relationship between the levels of self-criticism and fear of negative evaluation in both university students with and without obesity. Students with obesity had higher level of internalized self-criticism as compared to the students without obesity. Girls were reported to have higher internalized self-criticism as compared to boys in both groups related to obesity. The findings of the present study are speculated to have sound implications in the fields of medical health profession and education psychology for intervention planned to reduce weight based stigmatization and as a contribution to explanation of self-criticism and fear of negative evaluation in the Pakistani cultural context.