Orbach, I., & Mikulincer, M. (1998). The Body Investment Scale: Construction and validation of a body experience scale. Psychological Assessment, 10, 415-425.

III. Overview:

The authors devised the Body Investment Scale (BIS) to study self-destructive behaviors, especially those involved in suicides and suicide attempts. The BIS attempts to tap into one's feelings about one's body image, protective tendencies towards one's body, one's comfort derived through touch, and one's tendencies to care for one's body. The underlying assumption of the BIS is that these factors may be related to personality structures involved in both preserving life and destroying it.

IV. General Method:

A series of 4 separate studies was conducted. Study 1 involved construction of the items and factor analyses of their validity. Study 2 involved comparison of the BIS across different groups (suicidal vs nonsuicidal patients) in terms of body investment. Study 3 explored the construct validity of the scale with respect to the following three factors: depression, physical anhedonia, and suicidal tendencies. Finally, Study 4 also involved an analysis of the scale's construct validity, but this time with respect to the relation between one's body investment and bonding, self-esteem, and suicidal tendencies.

V. Conclusions and Implications:

Based on the results from all 4 studies, Orbach and Mikulincer concluded that the BIS is a valid, consistent, and useful test of the relationship between one's perception of one's own body (i. e., feelings about body image, comfort in touch, and body care) and suicidal behavior. In addition, the BIS appears to be useful in predicting suicidal tendencies based on negative body investment and discriminates between suicidal and "normal" individuals. The authors concluded by speculating that the BIS may be useful in studying other self-destructive behaviors such as eating disorders and drug abuse.