Body alteration
Subtitle
On the mental function of body modification and body decoration
Publication date
2024-03-28
Document type
Forschungsartikel
Author
Organisational unit
ISSN
Series or journal
Culture & Psychology
Periodical volume
31
Periodical issue
1
First page
181
Last page
223
Peer-reviewed
✅
Part of the university bibliography
✅
Abstract
Decorating the body as well as (semi-)permanent bodily modifications are a longstanding human practice, together with spending a great amount of time and effort on such body alterations. The present article reviews the mental functions of body-altering behavior. The primary aim is to identify and elucidate the predominant mental function underpinning these body alterations. Following several guidelines for reviews, we synthesized the literature, including several categories of body-altering entities from different eras. We argue that there are two crucial commonalities for individuals engaging in body-altering behavior that comprise the mental functions for doing so: aesthetics and group affiliation (dynamics), including the latter’s subfunctions of supporting individuality, resistance, personal narrative, physical endurance, and sexual motivation. Incorporating the existing literature, we find that aesthetic motivation takes precedence over group affiliation, thereby establishing aesthetics as the primary mental function of body-altering behavior; factors substantiating this conclusion are explored in detail within the article.
Version
Published version
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Metadata only access