Gender Differences in Body Image
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Students
Feingold, A., and Mazzella, R. (1998) Gender differences in body image
are increasing. Psychological Science, 9, 190-195.
Overview:
Body Image
What do you see when you look in a mirror -- someone who needs to lose
a few pounds? If you are like many people, you probably are somewhat dissatisfied
with your body. Few of us have lithe, model-like physiques but most of
us desire them. Pathological concern with body image -- usually an intense
fear of being fat -- is associated with two eating disorders, anorexia
nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia and bulimia are recognized as psychological
disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), published
by the American Psychiatric Association. Anorexia is an obsessive compulsion
for thinness, and is characterized by self-starvation, intense exercise,
and an extremely poor body image. Bulimia is another eating disorder characterized
by periods of intense overeating, or bingeing, followed by attempts to
prevent weight gain from overeating, or purging, often involving self-induced
vomiting, abuse of laxatives and diuretics, and intense exercise.
Some psychologists claim that most people's body image is so bad that
having a poor body image is "normal." Body image is generally measured
through questionnaires. Most questionnaires include items on satisfaction
with appearance and physical attractiveness. A person with a poor body
image tends to rate himself or herself low on satisfaction with his or
her own appearance and on physical attractiveness.
A popular belief among researchers, medical doctors, and the general
public is that body image has eroded over the years. Researchers speculate
that North Americans' decline in body image is due to greater health consciousness
and abnormally thin (in some places!) models. Psychologists argue that
eating disorders are increasing in prevalence, in part because of the decline
in body image and societal pressures to be thin. Adolescent girls and women
seem to have particularly poor body images and are particularly susceptible
to developing eating disorders. Feingold and Mazzella (1998) analyzed 222
research studies published over the past 50 years to determine whether
body image is indeed becoming poorer and whether North American females
are being particularly affected.
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Instructors | For Students
Article Summary
Researchers and psychologists have argued that body image is eroding, particularly
among young, female Americans. Numerous studies have been published that
indicate this may be the case. But these studies have included different
measures of body image, been conducted for different reasons, and have
not directly measured cross-cultural differences in body image. Feingold
and Mazzella (1998) conducted a meta-analysis of all these studies to determine
if, indeed, body image is eroding and gender differences in body image
are increasing.
Feingold and Mazzella searched numerous databases, indexes, and books
to collect studies of body image that included gender. They found 277 reports
that described 222 studies. They conducted a meta-analysis of these 222
studies, analyzing effect sizes for gender differences in each of the studies.
An effect size is a measure of the difference between two groups, usually
calculated as the standardized difference between two means. In a meta-analysis,
each study is treated as a "participant" in the experiment and effect sizes,
reflecting difference obtained in each study are analyzed to determine
if there is an overall difference across the different studies. So, if
some studies show a difference in one direction and other studies show
a difference in the opposite direction, a meta-analysis might show no overall
difference since the two directions of difference would offset each other.
Combining all studies, Feingold and Mazzella found that males have a
more positive body image than females. They also analyzed gender differences
by year in which the study was conducted, age of the participants, and
country in which the study was conducted (United States versus all other
countries combined).
If body image is eroding more for females than for males, we would expect
to see effect sizes for gender differences in body image to increase from
early studies (conducted in the 1970s and earlier) to the present (studies
conducted in the 1990s). This is exactly what Feingold and Mazzella found.
Given the societal expectations for girls and women, in particular,
to be thin, we might expect gender differences to be greater for adolescents
and young adults. Again, this is exactly what Feingold and Mazzella found;
gender differences increased from early to mid-adolescence then decreased
in adulthood. Feingold and Mazzella argue that girls and young women might
be dissatisfied with their appearance as they compete for socially valued
goals, such as romance and jobs, but less dissatisfied in adulthood when
there is less social pressure for attractiveness.
Finally, the culture of thinness in the United States has been singled
out as particularly harmful for body satisfaction. Interestingly, Feingold
and Mazzella found that the gender differences were the same in other countries
as they were in the United States. However, gender differences in the United
States tended to be more variable than in other countries.
Feingold and Mazzella speculated on an explanation for the erosion of
body image by young women over the years. Other explanations of gender
differences (e.g., spatial abilities, physical strength, mate selection)
include biological, sociocultural, and biosocial explanations. Feingold
and Mazzella argue that gender differences in body image have sociocultural
roots because they have evolved gradually since the 1970s. Research on
mate selection, in contrast, suggests a biological or biosocial explanation.
Thus, although young girls may obsess over thinness in order to get a boyfriend,
biological and/or evolutionary forces -- and not self-perceptions of physical
attractiveness -- may ultimately land her that socially desirable object.
Overview | Article Summary
| For Instructors | For Students
For Instructors
Links to the Lecture
Although discussion of eating disorders and body image tends to be too
personal to cover in class, videos can be particularly enlightening. The
following video, though a bit dated, is poignant and provides very good
information about body image and eating disorders:
Overview | Article Summary
| For Instructors | For Students
For Students
About the Authors
Alan Feingold is an Associate Research Scientist in the Yale University
Department of Psychiatry. Ronald Mazzella lives in Flushing, New York,
and has collaborated on other research with Dr. Feingold.
About the Journal
Psychological
Science Is a journal of the American
Psychological Society. This article is based on dissertation research
by Alan Feingold that won the Gardner Lindzey Dissertation Award from the
American Psychological Association.
Links to Life
Body Image
What is your body image? This health
promotion site, from the Monash University Faculty of Medicine Health
Promotion Unit, with separate male and female questionnaires, can help
you explore your own body image.
Here's a report
from the Mayo Clinic about body image. Check out some of the interesting
web links in the report.
Weight and Nutrition
Worried about fat? Cholesterol? Sodium? Calories? Check out Olen Publishing's
Fast Food Finder to find which
fast food items from national chains fit within your nutritional budget.
Download this shareware
program on dieting, eating habits, and nutrition from the University
of Alberta. Here also is an associated article
written by a student for students about body image.
Eating Disorders
Here is information on anorexia
and bulimia
from Internet Mental Health, a free encyclopedia of mental health information
and an outstanding web resource. There are links from these pages to many
web sites concerned with eating disorders, including the Something
Fishy Eating Disorders website, one of the most extensive and carefully
researched resources on eating disorders.
All You Ever Wanted to Know About Meta-Analysis!
What is meta-analysis? Read all about this analytic method in
an article
reprinted from The Scientist. Here is a useful and informative guide
to conducting meta-analysis. |
