Gender and body images: Stereotypes and realities

Body image is a multidimensional construct defined by persons' perceptions of and attitudes about their body. Although the sexes differ on some parameters of body image, the present experiment was conducted to determine the manner and extent to which the sexes are socially perceived to differ. Male and female college students (n=72) completed a standardized body-image inventory, the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, in response to three counterbalanced instructional contexts—for self, for the typical male peer, and for the typical female peer. As compared with the actual, often modest, sex differences found on several body-image indices, the sexes were perceived to differ substantially on all measured aspects of body image. The stereotypical misperception of the sexes was clearly a more disparaging distortion of the body image of women than of men. The findings were interpreted in relation to possible contributing factors and directions for future research.The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Alana Ellington, Cheryl Kissel, Albert Hunter, and Wendy Weaver in the completion of this research.