In a recent article posted on Psychology Today, Spending Time Naked With Strangers Can Improve Body Image, the author discusses the “first-ever randomized controlled trial of communal nudity.”
The study aims to provide insight into the question “Could spending time naked improve how people feel about their appearance or help them to appreciate their bodies more?” The author, Dr. Justin J. Lehmiller, explains that the UK-based study is small in sample size, and did not reflect a diverse participation (all white).
Dr. Lehmiller did indicate that the study did show that those that were placed in a social setting while naked, had a significantly more positive view of body image (of self and others), than those in the (clothed) controlled study group. The report notes that for “those in the control condition, there was no significant change in body image.”
The report also shared that in the naked environment, there was a reduction in the anxiety a person had about the way others looked at their body (what the article refers to as “social physique anxiety”). This lessened anxiety appears to contribute towards the increased acceptance of one’s own body image.
For those of us who live our lives naked, including those that participate in social nudity activities, this appears to confirm what many of us already knew. A naturist lifestyle tends to be more healthy in the attitudes that we have towards body image. I hope that a larger study may develop from this that is more diverse to determine if one’s race, ethnicity or background presents a different finding.
I agree. No one can love you, really, until you can love you. And the self-confidence that only nudity can bring.