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

Written by Tanya E. Davison, Marita P. McCabe

Participants rated their physical attractiveness using a scale specifically designed for this study, the Physical Attractiveness Scale, which measures how attractive they perceived themselves, for example, in terms of general appearance, facial attractiveness, and sexual attractiveness. This scale contains six items, an example of which is "Compared to other men, I am ..." Participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 = extremely unattractive to 5 = extremely attractive. Scores ranged from 6 to 30; a high score indicates a high self-rating of attractiveness. Internal reliability was high among both men and women ([alpha] > .90).

Two body image behaviors, body concealment (the tendency to conceal one's body from the gaze of others and to avoid discussion about body size and shape) and body improvement (engagement in attempts to improve one's body), were assessed using an instrument constructed for this study, the Body Image Behavior Scales. Items were derived in part from two extant instruments, the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire (Rosen, Srebnik, Saltzberg, & Wendt, 1991) and the Attention to Body Shape Scale (Beebe, 1995), which were selected through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The Body Concealment Scale consists of five items, an example item of which is "I avoid wearing 'revealing' clothes, like shorts or bathing suits." The Body Improvement Scale consists of three items, an example of which is "I exercise in order to get a better body." Participants responded on a 6-point Likert scale from 1 = never to 6 = always. Scores on the body concealment scale ranged from 5 to 30; a high score indicates a high engagement in attempts to conceal the body. Scores on the body improvement scale ranged from 3 to 18; a high score indicates a high engagement in attempts to improve the body. Internal reliability for each scale was high among both men and women ([alpha] > .80).

Concern about others evaluating one's body was assessed using the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (Hart et al., 1989). This scale contains 12 items, an example of which is "In the presence of others, I feel apprehensive about my physique/figure." Following the recommendation of Eklund, Kelley, and Wilson (1997), item 2 was modified (to improve performance) to "I worry about wearing clothes that might make me look too thin or overweight." Participants rated how true each of the items were using a 5-point Likert scale, from 1 = not at all true to 5 = extremely true. Scores ranged from 12 to 60; a high score indicates a high level of concern about others evaluating one's body (the responses to some items were reverse scored). Internal and test-retest reliability have been found to be adequate with a number of adult samples (Hart et al., 1989; Martin, Rejeski, Leary, McAuley, & Bane, 1997; Motl & Conroy, 2000; Petrie, Diehl, Rogers, & Johnson, 1996). Internal reliability was high among both men and women in the present sample ([alpha] > .80).

Participants indicated their level of appearance comparison by completing the Physical Appearance Comparison Scale (Thompson et al., 1991). This scale contains five items, an example of which is "At parties or other social events, I compare my physical appearance to the physical appearance of others." Responses were made on a 5-point Likert scale, from 1 = never to 5 = always. Scores ranged from 5 to 25; a high score indicates a strong tendency to compare one's own appearance with that of others. Although psychometric characteristics were found to be adequate with a university sample (Thompson et al., 1991), item 4 correlated with others at a low level in the present community sample (squared multiple correlation .70) and women ([alpha] > .80).

Psychological Functioning Measures

Participants completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). This scale contains 10 items, an example of which is "I feel that I have a number of good qualities." Responses were made on a 4-point Likert scale, from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree. Scores ranged from 4 to 40; a high score indicates high self-esteem (the responses to some items were reverse scored). This instrument has been widely used in research, and has demonstrated good psychometric properties (Rosenberg, 1979). Internal reliability was high among both men and women in the present sample ([alpha] > .80).

Participants also completed two subscales from the Depression Anxiety Stress Sub Scales (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The Depression Scale contains 14 items related to symptoms of depression, an example of which is "I felt downhearted and blue." The Anxiety Scale contains 14 items related to symptoms of anxiety, an example of which is "I felt I was close to panic." Participants were asked to indicate the extent to which they had experienced each symptom over the previous week. Responses were made on a 4-point Likert scale from 0 = did not apply to me to 3 = applied to me very much or most of the time. Scores on each scale ranged from 0 to 42; a high score indicates a high level of depression or anxiety. These subscales are reliable measures of negative affective states among nonclinical college populations (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). Minor modifications were made to four items to improve comprehension in a community sample, with the aim of retaining the original meaning of items. To illustrate, the item "I found it difficult to work up the initiative to do things" was modified to "I found it difficult to work up the energy to do things." Internal reliability for each scale was high among both men and women ([alpha] > .90) in the present study.