HISTORICAL-CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF BODY IMAGE IN SCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY SOURCES (1900-1935)

Abstract

Body image researchers credit the neurologist Paul Schilder (1886-1940) with the term's definition in 1935. The analysis of the concept's composition can contribute to understanding its dissemination in a language community. We sought to identify the circulation of the idea in the psychology literature in the early twentieth century through a conceptual analysis of primary sources. Articles published in Psychology scientific journals and Psychology books between 1900 and 1935 were reviewed. Sources published in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese were accessed. Only two articles presented an explicit reference to the term body image, while the other articles touched on body image ideas. On the other hand, the psychology books' texts did not present explicit references to the concept. Still, they described theories aligned with research on body perception within primary psychological processes literature. The general understanding of body image inherited by the literature in psychology was preceded by definitions associated with body scheme, such as the perception of movement and proprioception.