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

Written by Tanya E. Davison, Marita P. McCabe

The absence of relationships between body image and other aspects of psychological, social, and sexual functioning among most groups in this study appears to be best explained by shared relationships with self-esteem. To illustrate, although depression and body image variables were generally correlated, consistent with earlier research (Denniston, Roth, & Gilroy, 1992; Mable, Balance, & Galgan, 1986; Sarwer, Wadden, & Foster, 1998), associations were no longer present among most groups when we controlled for self-esteem. This is a surprising finding, given the attention paid by researchers to the importance of body image in understanding depression among women. In contrast to conceptualizations of body dissatisfaction as either a symptom or source of depression (Boggiano & Barrett, 1991; Koenig & Wasserman, 1995; McCarthy, 1990), it may be better understood in this context as an aspect of self-esteem (Allgood-Merten, Lewinsohn, & Hops, 1990). Thus, although men and women with a negative body image were more likely than others to report negative social and sexual functioning and to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety, this appeared to be due to the presence of a negative general self-concept.

This conclusion is made tentatively, given that it is contrary to much of the literature, and may be considered a preliminary finding. However, with the exception of depression, the relationships between body image and psychological, social, and sexual functioning have received little previous empirical investigation, even among samples of young women. In the limited research available authors failed to consider the role of self-esteem, with the exception of Allgood-Merten et al. (1990) whose conclusions support those of the present study. The current methodology does not allow for a direct evaluation of the relationships for men and women of different age groups, due to limitations in sample sizes. Replication of the findings is recommended, particularly using methods of analyses that allow for modeling of relationships, with particular attention paid to the role of self-esteem. For example, self-esteem may act as an important mediating factor between body image and day-to-day functioning.

Of interest in this study is the finding that body image played a role in psychological functioning among men and women over 50 years of age, in contrast to other adults. This was the only group for whom body image contributed to a unique understanding of depression and anxiety, beyond the shared association with self-esteem. Social aspects of body image were most relevant, as men in late adulthood who engaged in a high level of appearance comparison reported higher levels of anxiety and self-esteem than did men who were not concerned about how they looked in comparison to others. In addition, women in late adulthood who were highly concerned about how others may evaluate their appearance were more likely than other women their age to report symptoms of depression and social anxiety. Thus, although in general older men and women were less concerned about the social aspect of body image than younger individuals, the minority who did hold such concerns experienced symptoms of negative psychological adjustment.

Although body image was found to play a less important role in social and sexual functioning than previously proposed, it did appear to have particular relevance to the social and sexual functioning of men during middle adulthood, that is, men between the ages of 30 and 50 years. Men undergo a number of changes at this stage of their lives, in their interpersonal relationships, their roles at work, their families, and also in their physiques. It is during this developmental period when the negative physical effects of aging tend to become particularly apparent; men continue to gain body fat up until the age of 50 years, particularly around the abdomen area (Bemben, Massey, Bemben, Boileau, & Misner, 1998). Men do not typically express concerns about these changes directly, and they report a more positive body image than similarly aged women, both in this study and in previous research (Feingold & Mazzella, 1998). However, it appears that a minority of men, who present with the type of body image disturbance more typically observed among women, such as low satisfaction with their appearance, high social physique anxiety, attempts to conceal their bodies from others, and a tendency to compare their appearance to others, are more likely to experience significant difficulties in their interpersonal functioning, most noticeably in the sexual arena. Social aspects of body image played a particularly important role in middle-aged men's interpersonal functioning. To illustrate, high social physique anxiety was a particularly strong predictor of low sexual optimism, which suggests that middle-aged men who were concerned about others evaluating their bodies were likely to expect unrewarding future sexual interactions.

In contrast to the findings with men, women who expressed dissatisfaction with their bodies, and women who worried about how they "shaped up" in comparison with others and how others may perceive their bodies, experienced relatively few problems in their psychological, social, or sexual functioning beyond poor general self-esteem. The well-established, normative nature of women's views of their bodies may result in their body image concerns having only a limited negative association with other aspects of women's lives. This point has been made previously in relation to women's views of their sexuality (Wiederman & Hurst, 1997), but can be extended to include more general psychological and social functioning.

This research has demonstrated the importance of considering multiple measures of body image, given that different measures were associated with different aspects of psychological, social, and sexual functioning. Social aspects of body image, particularly concerns about how others may evaluate one's body, are a particular area that requires further research. The results of the present research also demonstrated the importance of investigating the effects of body image separately for men and women and for different age groups. This is the first study to demonstrate that body image may play different roles in the lives of different adult populations. Replication of these findings is required, particularly in longitudinal research, in order to explore potential underlying mechanisms to explain the role of body image in the psychological, social, and sexual functioning of men and women at different stages of adult development. The current sample was divided into three broad age categories, on the basis of sample size. Future researchers exploring the development of body image in adulthood should consider theoretically developed stages of adult development when selecting appropriate age categories to investigate. For example, body image may play a different role in the lives of adults 50-65 years than for adults in later years. Smaller, more homogeneous groups may demonstrate differences in the development of body image and highlight specific associations of body image and day-to-day functioning at different ages.

This study was limited by the use of correlational data. Small sample sizes in each group precluded the use of more sophisticated techniques, such as structural equation modeling, which may be employed in future research with larger samples to model relationships between body image and psychological, social, and sexual functioning variables. An investigation of these relationships was beyond the scope of this article, and they were not accounted for in the present analysis, which was focused on understanding which specific aspects of body image were of most relevance to particular aspects of day-to-day functioning. Future researchers may gainfully model the nature of the relationships between different aspects of body image for different populations. It is hoped that increased acknowledgement of the complexity of the body image construct, particularly in relation to the varied roles it plays in the lives of adult men and women, will stimulate further theoretical and empirical development in this area.

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