Brief Report: Exposure to Muscular Male Models Decreases Men?s Body Satisfaction

Abstract

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

Seeing the beauty in everyday people: A qualitative study of young Australians’ opinions on body image, the mass media and models

“…For example, in response to the evidence that thin and muscular media exposure is associated with negative body image, governments, politicians and researchers throughout Australia, Europe, and the United States have called for greater body size diversity in media imagery in order to promote positive body image (Australian Government, 2010;Boyer et al, 2009;Liberal Democrats, 2009;. Research that has investigated the effect of exposure to average-size fashion models (i.e., models with body sizes that are more representative of the general population) supports these recommendations (e.g., Diedrichs & Lee, 2010, in press;Dittmar & Howard, 2004a, 2004bHalliwell & Dittmar, 2004;Halliwell, Dittmar, & Howe, 2005;Lorenzen, Grieve, & Thomas, 2004). These studies have found that viewing average-size female and male models in advertisements is associated with more positive body image among both women and men, in comparison to viewing images of thin and muscular models, or no models.…”

Muscle-enhancing Behaviors Among Adolescent Girls and Boys

“…2 Boys' body dissatisfaction has simultaneously increased, 4 and research has demonstrated that exposure to images of extremely muscular models contributes to body dissatisfaction and muscle dysmorphia in young men. [5][6][7] Research regarding media images of women has focused almost exclusively on thinness as the cultural ideal for femininity, 8,9 but there is some indication that modern media figures combine slenderness with a toned and firm look that was not emphasized in previous generations. [10][11][12] Muscle-enhancing behaviors have received considerable attention in the media and popular culture in recent years, as a steady stream of famous male and female athletes have been implicated in legal cases regarding their alleged use of performanceenhancing substances.…”

“…As with the large body of literature investigating an array of influences on body dissatisfaction relating to thinness, continued research into media portrayals of muscularity, [5][6][7] as well as interpersonal interactions such as weight-and shape-teasing, or sharing muscle-enhancing substances among peers may be promising avenues for understanding the parallel phenomenon of dissatisfaction with regard to muscularity and unhealthy behaviors aimed at muscle enhancement.…”

An empirical investigation of gender, sexual attitudes, weight bias and body image

“…As hypothesised, men who viewed the television commercials featuring muscular models reported feeling less attractive or satisfied with their muscle shape and size, compared to the control group. This study demonstrates how comparisons with the muscular models had significant effects on adult men's body image (see also Arbour & Ginis, 2006;Bartlett & Harris, 2008;Lorenzen, Grieve, & Thomas, 2004). Clearly, the images that the media presents as 'ideal' are very influential on male body image.…”