How do I love thyself?

The Body Shop recently released a Global Self-Love Index which surveyed over 22,000 people in 21 different countries comprising a number of academic measures: Self-worth, wellbeing and happiness, and how age, gender, country and living standards impact how people feel about themselves.

The research revealed that South Korea, Saudi Arabia and France rank lowest for selflove, whereas Denmark, Australia, and the United States rank the highest. Further key findings indicate that heavy users of social media have lower levels of self-love, however they are twice as likely to say they get the emotional support they need, compared to non-users.

Nearly 50% Gen Z women fall into the lowest self-love category, compared with less than 20% of those that are Gen X or older.

The top three causes of low confidence among women are financial status (32%), not achieving their goals (25%) and their looks (23%). Surprisingly, Covid-19 had a slightly more positive impact on women's self-love than negative.

“For many women, the pandemic — although unpleasant — has offered a space for reflection, reprioritisation and authenticity. Many have embraced who they are, stripping themselves of pressures to show up or be a certain way. In this increasingly online world too, if a woman is using social media as her primary means of building or outsourcing her self- love and validation, the unrealistic expectations and comparisons can become detrimental and amplify struggles of self- acceptance,” says The Body Shop self- love expert Sara Kuburic.

The Body Shop will use the findings from the Index to review and inform its own practices, especially across its marketing and product portfolio. The aim is to spread one million acts of self-love in one year, to create more love and positive change in the world.

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