Date

5-12-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Stress-reduction techniques, specifically aromatherapy, have many benefits to the person practicing them, but it is unclear how they affect a woman’s perception of her own body and menstrual cycle. The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects that aromatherapy has on a woman’s perception of her body and menstrual cycle. It was hypothesized that the aromatherapy would provide stress-relieving effects and increase a participant’s positive perception of her body. Participants were recruited through Bridgewater State University’s SONA system with the requirement that they were over the age of 18 and assigned female at birth. Participants completed an interview to discuss their body esteem and feelings regarding their menstrual cycle before (pre) and after (post) they engaged in 10-minutes of aromatherapy using lavender essential oil. The pre-and post-interviews were then analyzed to see if participants used more positive language to describe their body and menstrual cycle after the aromatherapy session took place. A qualitative content analysis of the data revealed that women talked more positively about their body and menstrual cycle and shared more information with the researcher following the aromatherapy session, perhaps due to the relaxing effects of the aromatherapy. Participants talked more negatively overall, in both the pre- and post-interviews, when discussing menstruation in comparison to how they discussed their bodies but acknowledged the need for and importance of the menstrual cycle in the post-interview. Given these findings, aromatherapy could be used as a clinical tool to help treat body shame. Aromatherapy could also be used to assist adolescent girls before menarche in reducing feelings of body and menstrual shame and help them to talk more positively in the immediate timeframe.

Department

Psychology

Thesis Comittee

Dr. Theresa Jackson, Thesis Advisor

Dr. Joseph Schwab, Committee Member

Copyright and Permissions

Original document was submitted as an Honors Program requirement. Copyright is held by the author.

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