Muscle dysmorphia is a recently described subcategory of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. It is most prevalent in males and has a number of cognitive, behavioral, socioenviornmental, emotional, and psychological factors that influence its expression. An etiological model describing these influences is presented for evaluation. Nine variables (body mass, media influences, ideal body internalization, low self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, health locus of control, negative affect, perfectionism, and body distortion) were identified through the use of extant literature on muscle dysmorphia and through extrapolation from literature involving women and eating disorders. The functional relationships among these variables are described and implications of the model are discussed.

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The current study was designed to examine the effect of exposure to muscular ideal bodies on body satisfaction in men. College men (N = 104) at a medium-sized mid-south university completed the Body Assessment (BA) scale, which measures body satisfaction, before and after exposure to either muscular or nonmuscular advertisements. BA scores were examined using a repeated measures (pre and post) ANOVA with muscularity of image (view images of muscular men vs. view images of average men) as the between-participants factor. Results indicated that men's self-rated body satisfaction decreased after viewing images of muscular men but did not change after viewing images of average men. Thus, it appears that men's body satisfaction may be influenced by exposure to brief images of muscular models. These results are congruent with results of previous investigations of the effects of viewing images of thin models on women's body satisfaction.KEY WORDS: body image; muscularity; body satisfaction.One sociocultural factor that appears to influence body satisfaction in both men and women is the media. People are bombarded daily with their culture's stereotypical images of attractiveness from magazines, television, films, billboards, and other electronic and print media. This constant exposure to ideal body types (which are often quite unrealistic for most individuals to obtain) can make individuals more sensitive and conscious about their own bodies, and can evoke comparisons between themselves and unrealistic media images of thinness and/or muscularity (Turner et al., 1997).Although one might argue that media only reflects what is prevalent in society, there is strong evidence that exposure to idealized thin bodies via magazines, television, and movies has deleterious effects, especially in women. Women report that they use models in magazines as a point of comparison for

Previous researchers have demonstrated that sport fans often exhibit in-group bias by reporting more positive evaluations of fellow in-group fans than of rival out-group fans. The authors designed the present investigation to extend previous research by replicating past efforts in a field setting and to advance our understanding of the impact of social identity threat. The present authors hypothesized that, in addition to the base-level in-group bias effect, the bias effect would be most pronounced in situations involving a threat to one's social identity. The authors believed that fans of a losing team and fans of a home team would experience threats to their identity and, consequently, exhibit particularly high levels of in-group favoritism. Further, because past researchers had shown that one's level of group identification plays a vital role in social perception, the present authors predicted an interaction in which the greatest amount of bias would be exhibited by highly identified fans rooting for a home team that had lost. Data gathered from spectators (N = 148) at 2 North American college basketball games confirmed the authors' expectations, with the exception that the supporters of the winning team reported higher levels of bias. The authors discussed the factors underlying the unexpected game outcome effect and the use of in-group bias as a coping strategy.

Muscle dysmorphia is a newly described disorder in which muscular men believe they are smaller than they actually appear. Similar to the presentation of eating disorders in women, men with muscle dysmorphia have behavioral symptoms and cognitive distortions that serve to maintain the disorder. A brief overview of muscle dysmorphia, its diagnostic criteria, and some of the causes is provided. Assessment issues and treatment suggestions are also discussed.