RESEARCH ARTICLE


Self-Other Positioning in Obesity: A Pilot Study Using Repertory Grid Technique



Marco Castiglioni1, Alessandro Pepe2, Gabriella Gandino3, Guido Veronese4, *
1 Department of Human Sciences, “R. Massa” University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
2 Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
3 Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
4 Department of Human Sciences “R. Massa”, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy


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Creative Commons License
© 2013 Castiglioni et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Human Sciences “R. Massa”, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy; Tel: +39(0)264484800; Fax: +39(0)264484863; E-mail: guido.veronese@gmail.com


Abstract

Self-other positioning was investigated in a group of obese youths in order to empirically test the clinical hy-pothesis – based on the constructionist theory of Family Semantic Polarities – that obese people are affected by a negative self-perception and low self-esteem. Repertory grid technique was used with 30 participants (15 obese-overweight and 15 control) to elicit and compare their personal constructs and assess, via ad hoc measurement indices, the positions they as- signed to the self and significant others in relation to these constructs. The results confirmed the research hypotheses, with obese subjects displaying a tendency to pos ition both self and others at the negative pole of bipolar constructs and reporting greater self-ideal discrepancy. These findings and their limitations are discussed in relation to their clinical applications and in light of the methodologi cal issues arising from the study.

Keywords: Eating disorders, family semantic polarities, obesity, personal constructs, positioning, repertory grid technique.