ЕМПІРИЧНЕ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ СТАВЛЕННЯ ДО ВЛАСНОЇ ЗОВНІШНОСТІ ТА ДИСКРИМІНАЦІЇ

Appearance, image of appearance and perception of one’s own appearance are important not only from an aesthetic point of view, but significantly affect a person’s well-being, are part of the structure of a person’s self-concept, important for personal identity, self-image formation. They are formed not only under the influence of personal factors, but also socio-psychological factors: social norms, values, stereotypes of mass consciousness. Today the field of research on the stereotypes of appearance is developing rapidly, but most of it is represented by foreign works. Ukrainian research is poorly represented in this area. The purpose of the study is to empirically investigate the attitude to one’s appearance, gender stereotypes in this attitude, issues of discrimination on the grounds of appearance and socio-demographic differences in this attitude. Research methods: author’s questionnaire to determine the attitude to one’s own appearance. The sample is 186 people. The analysis of the study allowed to identify 5 components in relation to their own appearance (scales, that explain 67,44% of the total variance): gender stereotypes of appearance; discrimination on the basis of appearance; satisfaction with one’s own appearance; desire to improve appearance; assessment of one’s own appearance. Differences were found in the results by gender, age and level of education. Research has shown that appearance is more important for women and the younger group of respondents, it is less important for men, just as the older group of respondents is less concerned about their own appearance. At the same time, women consider themselves more attractive than men; and men pay more attention to appearance discrimination against men. At the same time, on average, the level of discrimination by appearance is quite moderate. However, gender stereotypes about appearance persist and apply to more women: both in men’s evaluation and self-esteem. The prospects for the study are to further explore stereotypes of appearance and how they relate to the gender identity of the individual.