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Regular use of headscarf shown to improve body self-image

A study of British Muslim women reported that women who wore a headscarf, or hijab, regularly had more positive body image and placed less importance on appearance and media messages about beauty, after adjusting for religiosity.

Researchers recruited 587 ethnically diverse Muslim women in London, aged 18 to 70 years, with self-reported BMI between 15.56 kg/m² and 35.84 kg/m². More than 75% of the cohort had an undergraduate degree, and 78.9% were single. A control group (n=218) reported never wearing a hijab.

Following a previous model, the researchers developed a “hijab index” to identify frequency of use among those who wore headscarves then compared attitudes about body image between wearers and nonwearers, adjusted for religiosity.

According to the researchers, women who wore the hijab scored more positively in areas of weight discrepancy, body satisfaction, social anxiety regarding physique, investment in appearance and other metrics.

“While we shouldn’t assume that wearing the hijab immunizes Muslim women from negative body image, our results do suggest that wearing the hijab may help some women reject prescriptive beauty ideals,” Viren Swami, Cpsychol, AFBPsS, of the psychology departments at the University of Westminster, London, and HELP University College, Kuala Lumpur, said in a press release.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.