Relationships Between Men’s and Women’s Body Image and Their Psychological, Social, and Sexual Functioning

This study was designed to examine the relationships between different aspects of body image and psychological, social, and sexual functioning throughout adulthood. The respondents were 211 men and 226 women (age range 18–86 years; mean = 42.26). Respondents completed measures of self-rated attractiveness, body satisfaction, body image importance, body image behaviors, appearance comparison, social physique anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social and sexual functioning. Body image was associated with self-esteem for all groups, but was unrelated to other aspects of psychological, social, and sexual functioning. There were some exceptions; a disturbance in body image was related to problematic social and sexual functioning among middle-aged men and to depression and anxiety symptoms in late adulthood among men and women. Middle-aged men who presented with the type of body image disturbance typical of women were more likely to have impaired interpersonal functioning. These results demonstrate that social aspects of body image appear to be important in understanding psychological functioning in later life.     

Sex differences in judgments of physical attractiveness: a social relations analysis

Men and women rated the physical attractiveness of other men and women who were sitting nearby and were rated by them in return. They also provided meta-perceptions of how they thought those others rated them. Attractiveness ratings were partly a function of both the target being rated and the perceiver providing the ratings regardless of the sex of the perceiver or target, but the highest levels of consensus occurred when men judged the attractiveness of women and the highest levels of idiosyncrasy occurred when men rated other men. Meta-perceptions were also idiosyncratic; some believed that they were consistently considered attractive, whereas others thought they were seen as unattractive. People were aware of what others thought of them and, in particular, women's meta-perceptions were highly related to men's judgments of them. People agree about others' attractiveness, and those who are attractive to others know they are pretty or handsome.     

Gender-role orientation and body image in women and men: The moderating influence of neuroticism

This study examined the effects of gender-role orientation on aspects of body image satisfaction in a group of primarily Caucasian young women and men. It also examined whether neuroticism—a broad, higher-order dimension of personality—functioned additively or interactively with gender-role orientation in the prediction of body image. Similar to previous research, masculinity was related to positive body image in women. For men, results were in the opposite direction. Femininity, and not masculinity, was related to body satisfaction. Of particular interest were the findings that neuroticism interacted both with masculinity in women and femininity in men in predicting positive ratings of attractiveness. In both cases, the positive relationship between gender-role orientation and attractiveness only existed at low levels of neuroticism. As neuroticism increased, the relationship diminished; there was no relationship at all at high levels of neuroticism. Results are discussed in terms of the differential significance of gender-role orientation for body esteem in women and men, and with respect to the moderating influence of personality factors.     

Body Image in Older Adults: Links with Religion and Gender

Research has confirmed a healthy link between young adults’ religiosity and body image. This study explored this relationship in 127 older men and women (mean = 74 years) who completed measures on two dimensions of body image (body satisfaction and anxiety about an aging appearance) and on different indices of religiosity. Men reported higher body satisfaction and lower anxiety about an aging appearance than women. For men, body satisfaction correlated with many religiosity variables and was predicted by religious well-being, existential well-being, and manifestation of God in their body; aging-appearance anxiety was unrelated to religiosity. For women, body satisfaction was weakly related to religiosity but aging-appearance anxiety was predicted by intrinsic orientation, religious well-being, and existential well-being; in all cases higher religiosity predicted lower anxiety about an aging appearance. Results are discussed in the context of differing cultural standards of aging and attractiveness for men and women.     

Body image and exercise: A study of relationships and comparisons between physically active men and women

A group of physically active women (n=112) and men (n=88) of a broad range of ages were compared on a number of variables related to body image, weight and diet concerns, and degree of exercise participation. Interrelationships between these measures were also examined. Results indicated that men and women were equally dissatisfied with their current weight. Although most women wanted to lose weight, the men were evenly divided between those who wanted to lose and those who wanted to gain. Women, however, were more dissatisfied with their bodies and placed greater importance on their appearance as an influence on their feelings of well-being. Although there were no sex differences in degree of physical activity, women were more likely than men to exercise to try and lose weight. Of interest was the finding that age was not related to body focus or body dissatisfaction for either sex. For women and older men, the degree to which they exercised was not associated with any of the body image variables. A very different pattern of relationships was found for young men. Greater body satisfaction was associated with increases in exercise participation and with increased body focus, a variable that was also associated with increased levels of exercise. The profile of results is considered in the context of social influences such as health promotion and sex roles — factors that have likely affected current attitudes to physical appearance and physical attractiveness among both sexes.     

A cross-cultural study of relationships between daily social interaction and the five-factor model of personality

Two studies, one in the United States (N = 130) and another in Germany (N = 100), examined relationships between daily social interaction and the traits of the Five-Factor Model. In both studies, student participants described their social interactions for 2 weeks using the Rochester Interaction Record. In both countries, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were positively related to reactions to social interaction, whereas Neuroticism was unrelated to reactions to interactions. In the United States, Extraversion and Openness were positively related to reactions to interactions, whereas these factors were not related to reactions to interactions in Germany. In the United States, Extraversion was positively related to how socially active participants were, whereas none of the FFM traits was related to amount of social interaction in the German sample. In both countries, Extraversion was positively related to percent of interactions involving friends. The results highlight the importance of taking into account the sociocultural milieus within which personality unfolds.     

Not Half Bad: Self and Others’ Judgements of Body Size and Attractiveness Across the Life Span

Self-deprecating judgements of body size are a robust exception to the general tendency for people to make self-enhancing judgements of themselves. This paper investigates whether the failure to make self-enhancing body size judgements also generalises to judgements of other physically grounded attributes, namely, physical attractiveness and sexiness. Sixty Australian women and men aged between 18 and 88 years of age were photographed, and their own ratings of their body size, attractiveness and sexiness were compared with those made of them by others. Women and men made self-deprecating judgements of body size, but made self-enhancing judgements of attractiveness and sexiness. We suggest that the unambiguous nature of cultural standards for body size, rather than low self-esteem, accounts for the self-deprecating judgements of body size made by men and women.     

Initial Encounters of Young Men and Women: Impressions and Disclosure Estimates

The purpose of this study was to explore the expectation that, in conversations between unacquainted men and women, men would disclose more than women and would create a positive impression in so doing. In 8-min, relatively unstructured conversations, both men and women (N=301) perceived themselves and their partners as disclosing approximately the same amount. For both sexes, the more their partners disclosed, the more favorably they rated their partners on social attractiveness and positive attributes. Moreover, both sexes believed that the more they disclosed themselves, the more positively their partners evaluated them. However, the strength of this relationship was significantly stronger for men than for women. Neither sex conformed to the expectation that men should disclose more, but both may have believed to some extent that their partners were evaluating them in accord with this expectation.     

Nothing gained: An explorative study of the long‐term effects of perceived maternal feeding practices on women's and men's adult BMI,body image dissatisfaction,and disordered eating

The objective of the studies presented here was the prediction of adult body mass index (BMI), body image dissatisfaction, and disordered eating from recalled maternal child feeding practices. Studies 1 and 2 sampled women from the community, and found that recalled childhood feeding practices predicted both current BMI and current disordered eating. Daughters whose mothers pressured them to eat as children had lower BMIs as adults. The more a mother was concerned about her daughter's weight as a child, and the more she restricted fatty food intake, the less the woman was satisfied with her current body image. Disordered eating of adult women was positively related to their mothers' restriction of their fatty food intake as children, and negatively related to the mothers' monitoring of their food intake as children. Combining the samples and subdividing them into four BMI intervals showed that the obese women were higher on all but one of the recalled maternal child feeding practices, as well as on disordered eating and body dissatisfaction. Age was found to be positively related to BMI and drive for thinness, but not to body dissatisfaction or disordered eating, with older women having higher BMI and more drive for thinness. Study 3 sampled adult men from the community and found that recalled maternal child feeding practices predicted adult BMI and disordered eating for men, as well as for women. Considerable sex differences were found for all study variables. Recollection of maternal child feeding practices may have a formative role in the development of body image, disordered eating, and BMI for men and women, even into adulthood.     

Self-deprecation and estimates of body size in women.

The subject of body image in women has received considerable attention particularly with concern about its relationship to behaviours such as dieting. This study investigated the reported tendency of women to see thinness as desirable and to perceive themselves as fatter than others do. This tendency is inconsistent with the general findings on self-enhancement that show that people (including women) generally overestimate the extent to which they possess desirable characteristics. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether the tendency for women to report themselves as fatter than others perceive them is part of a general tendency to deprecate themselves on socially desirable qualities or whether this deprecation is restricted to body size. To investigate this, 29 female undergraduates in psychology participated in a study comparing own and others' perceptions of body size, attractiveness, sexiness, intelligence, and friendliness. Compared with the ratings of them given by others, women tended to make self-enhancing judgements of their attractiveness, sexiness, intelligence, and friendliness. This was not found for body size, however, for which self-ratings tended to be the same as those made by others. The failure to find self-enhancing judgements of body size is discussed in terms of the relatively unvarying standards presented to women concerning ideal body size compared to the more subjective standards used to evaluate other qualities.     

Psychological well‐being and day‐to‐day social interaction among older adults

A sample of 113 healthy older adults used a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record to describe the social interactions they had each day for two weeks. They also completed various measures of psychological well‐being including life satisfaction and loneliness. A series of multilevel random coefficient analyses found that life satisfaction scores were positively related to how enjoyable interactions were, how self‐assured people felt when interacting, how much control they felt they had over interactions, how responsive others were to their needs, and how socially active they were. Analyses that took participants’ marital status into account suggested, however, that interaction outcomes and life satisfaction were related only for married participants, and that these relationships were primarily due to interaction outcomes with spouses.     

男性化与女性化对面孔偏好的影响—— 基于图像处理技术和眼动的检验

采用图像处理技术和眼动探讨了性别二态线索对面孔偏好的影响。实验1发现非面孔线索未掩蔽和掩蔽时, 感知男性化技术与原始照片条件下女性化的男性面孔更有吸引力和信任度; 性别二态技术条件下, 非面孔线索未掩蔽时男性化的男性面孔更有吸引力和信任度。实验2表明被试对男性面孔的平均瞳孔大小和注视次数均大于和多于女性面孔, 首次注视时间短于女性面孔; 被试对男性化面孔的首次注视时间和首次注视持续时间均长于女性化面孔。     

The relation between women's body esteem and friendships with gay men

Women who associate with gay men are often portrayed as physically unattractive and lacking in both self-confidence and attention from straight men. However, many women report enhanced self-esteem and feelings of attractiveness as a result of attention from their gay friends. It is well established that body esteem can be negatively impacted by certain peer processes, yet there is a dearth of quantitative research on positive peer influences on women's body esteem. We tested two hypotheses: (a) women with gay male friends have poor body esteem and are rejected by heterosexual men, and (b) more contact with gay men is positively related to body esteem. Participants were 154 heterosexual women, who completed measures of their friendships with gay men, straight men and women, body esteem, relationship involvement and break-ups. Results supported the hypothesis that women's body esteem, specifically feelings of sexual attractiveness, is positively associated with friendships with gay men.     

Observer age and the social transmission of attractiveness in humans: Younger women are more influenced by the choices of popular others than older women

Being paired with an attractive partner increases perceptual judgements of attractiveness in humans. We tested experimentally for prestige bias, whereby individuals follow the choices of prestigious others. Women rated the attractiveness of photographs of target males which were paired with either popular or less popular model female partners. We found that pairing a photo of a man with a woman presented as his partner positively influenced the attractiveness of the man when the woman was presented as more popular (Experiment 1). Further, this effect was stronger in younger participants compared to older participants (Experiment 1). Reversing the target and model such that women were asked to rate women paired with popular and less popular men revealed no effect of model popularity and this effect was unrelated to participant age (Experiment 2). An additional experiment confirmed that participant age and not stimulus age primarily influenced the tendency to follow others' preferences in Experiment 1 (Experiment 3). We also confirmed that our manipulations of popularity lead to variation in rated prestige (Experiment 4). These results suggest a sophisticated model‐based bias in social learning whereby individuals are most influenced by the choices of those who have high popularity/prestige. Furthermore, older individuals moderate their use of such social information and so this form of social learning appears strongest in younger women.     

Confidence of social judgments is not just error: Individual differences in the structure,stability, and social functions of perceptual confidence

The present research uses a Social Relations Model approach to focus on individual differences in perceptual confidence – a person’s confidence in her or his impressions of others. Across two samples of group interactions, we found that the majority of variance in perceptual confidence was explained by individual differences in how people tended to perceive others (i.e., perceiver effects). A smaller percentage of variance was explained by differences in how people tended to be perceived by others (i.e., target effects). Both these individual differences were stable over time, were related to relevant personality measures, and group outcomes. Together, these results demonstrate that although perceptual confidence may not be substantially related to accuracy, it exists as a stable individual difference dimension that has important consequences for social interactions.     

The role of performance-related similarity in social comparison of abilities: A test of the related attributes hypothesis

The hypothesis that individuals evaluate their abilities by comparison with others who are similar on nonability attributes that are related to performance has been supported in recent experiments. However, since these experiments did not include conditions in which attributes were unrelated to performance, they provide no evidence that it was the relationship of attributes to performance that explains why subjects compared with similar others. In the present experiment, 66 female undergraduates could choose to compare their test performance to the performance of women who were similar or dissimilar to themselves in physical attractiveness and the college they attended. In a 2 × 2 design these attributes were either related or unrelated to test performance. Results showed that only the performance relevance of college attended influenced comparison choices. Subjects compared with similarly attractive women even when attractiveness was unrelated to performance. These results indicate that identification of the conditions in which people do and do not consider the relevance of attributes to performance in selecting comparison others warrants attention.     

Body Objectification, Self-Esteem, and Relationship Satisfaction: A Comparison of Exotic Dancers and College Women

We examined body objectification, self-esteem, and relationship satisfaction differences between college women and exotic dancers and the relationships among these measures for both groups. Forty-three college women and 40 female exotic dancers completed a questionnaire that assessed each of these constructs. Relative to college women, exotic dancers reported less relationship satisfaction, more body surveillance, and a greater prioritizing of body attractiveness over physical competence. Relationship satisfaction and the prioritizing of appearance over physical competence varied for the heterosexual and bisexual dancers. For exotic dancers, the body objectification measures of surveillance and shame were negatively, and body control was positively, related to self-esteem; body shame was negatively related to relationship satisfaction. For college women, higher levels of body surveillance and body shame were associated with higher prioritizing of physical attractiveness relative to physical competence.     

WHO CONSIDERS THEMSELVES VICTIMS OF DISCRIMINATION?

We focus on the general issue of how and why individuals might decide if they have been victims of gender discrimination and how social status differences between women and men may change the significance of experiencing gender discrimination. Because both self-protective and situational factors have been found to influence interpretation of prejudicial events, in the present study we explore several individual-difference factors that might differentially predict perceived gender discrimination in women and men. We found that, for men, low self-esteem and high personal assertiveness were related to higher ratings of personal discrimination. Low self-esteem was also related to men's perceptions of discrimination against men as a group. For women, high need for approval was negatively related to perceptions of personal discrimination whereas depression was positively related. Depression was also related to higher ratings of discrimination against women, as was feminism. We argue that perceptions of discrimination serve different purposes for structurally privileged and disadvantaged groups.     

Self-objectification and ideal body shape for men and women

Objectification theory posits that valuing one's body for appearance rather than performance is associated with a range of negative psychological outcomes. This theory has been tested in women, but has received less empirical attention in men. This study examined the relation between self-objectification and ideal body shape in both men and women. One hundred eighty-three college students (111 women, 72 men) completed a questionnaire containing measures of self-objectification and ideal body shape (using a figure array ranging from non-muscular to very muscular). Consistent with hypotheses, women desired a less muscular body and men desired a more muscular body. Women also self-objectified more than men. In addition, there was an interaction between sex and self-objectification on ideal body shape. For women, higher self-objectification scores were related to a desire for a less muscular body. For men, higher self-objectification scores were related to a desire for a more muscular body. Self-objectification theory is a useful framework for understanding body image issues in men. However, the relation between self-objectification and other body related variables may differ for men and women.