Abstract
The research involved finding the difference between men and women about body image concerns. The research was developed to resolve the limitations of previous researchers. In the current research, it was suggested that men scored higher on DMS and women on BSQS. The research also established associations between masculinity or femininity and drive for muscularity or body shape concerns and understanding if masculinity correlated with a drive for muscularity. It was suggested that DFM and masculinity showed a positive correlation as described by previous research to understand this association. The research included 700 participants from Princeton University who completed survey questionnaires. 64% of the participants were women, and 36% were men allowed to complete various measures such as the DMS, BSQ, and BSRI for a personality trait. The research used ANOVA and correlation to analyze data, and the results showed that men recorded higher on DMS, while women indicated higher scores on BSQS.
Background
Research on gender differences in body image concerns and their results solely relied on the adiposity viewpoint. As a result, there has been the belief that men are less dissatisfied or concerned with their tendency of body fat than women who are less likely to diet to lose weight (McCreary et al., 2005). DMS and gender role measures showed men with significantly higher personality traits and the drive for muscularity in the previous study. Contrary to women who showed significant communal traits and acted in a more female-typed manner. In determining the degree for predicting drive for muscularity, men scored higher on the DMS than women on controlling gender behaviors (Gattario et al., 2015). Therefore, higher levels of male gender roles were closely related to the desire to become muscular. Femininity was not associated with the drive for muscularity as there was a lack of interrelation amid feminine-typed behaviors and traits and DMS scores (McCreary et al., 2005). Another finding showed that both men and women showed a similar association between gender-typed behaviors and traits and the drive for muscularity.
Similarly, men with more traditional attitudes desired to become more muscular. Men who wanted to be muscular experienced conflict about societal expectations, as they wanted to be competitive, powerful, and successful (Radwan et al., 2019). Previous research had limitations such that the research involved was correlational, which determined only significant relationships’ direction and presence. Another limitation was that the study samples were restricted based on ethnicity and age. Therefore, the current study was designed to address the limitations of McCreary et al. (2005). The study explores the direction of causality in the interrelations amid masculinity perceptions and drive for muscularity and uses different populations and measures. A previous study contacted by McCreary et al. (2005) used BSQ for body image measure and drive for muscularity scale (DMS) and BSQS. However, the current study uses measures geared toward body fat and muscularity. Based on gender personality measures, BSRI is employed to explore different aspects of gender role socialization.
The research questions for the current study entail finding if there is a difference between men and women in body image amid concern with muscle mass and body fat or shape. The hypothesis for this research question predicted that men would score higher on DMS and women higher on BSQS, as found by McCreary’s theory and research findings. The second research question involved finding the relationships between masculinity/femininity and drive for muscularity/body shape concerns and understanding if masculinity correlated with a drive for muscularity. Based on this research question, it was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between masculinity and drive for muscularity (DFM), as stated in the theory and prior research. For DFM and FEM, McCreary theorized a relationship but did not find it. Hence, the current study wants to replicate and confirm or disprove original findings and investigate correlations for BSQS.
Methods
Participants
A total of 700 participants completed surveys, of which 64% were women, and 36% were men. The participants’ age range was between 18 to 35 years with a mean age of 20.8 years, men SD = 3.2 while women SD = 2.5, and only 2.3% of the participants were older than 24 years. Most of the participants were European American, accounting for 90%, working-class was 65%, middle-class 17%, upper-middle-class 15%, and upper class 3%. The majority of participants were individuals who were employed in their professionals. Out of the total participants, 78 were lesbian, 79 bisexual, and 176 heterosexual.
Procedure
The research was conducted at Princeton University, containing a large student and staff population. Relevant research authorities in the college approved the study, and all participating research students were permitted to research body image concerns. For participants to be recruited into the research process, they must fulfill the exclusion and inclusion criteria. A survey was used to collect data where each participant was given Likert-questionnaires to complete that included questions about personality traits and demographics. Participants were allowed to complete all the DMS, BSQ, and BSRI, after which the collected data was analyzed to ascertain each trait. Informed consent for the research involved assessing the ability of participants to comprehend and present relevant research information and make a voluntary decision. Filled informed consent was documented and included in the research record.
Every participant completed DMS that measured their desire for a muscular body. The item on this scale presented behaviors and attitudes, and no reverse coding was performed. Sample items entailed participants wishing to be muscular and feeling guilty for missing training sessions. All the participants answered similar survey questionnaires administered with various self-report instruments as part of the research. The questionnaires were conducted voluntarily, and the participants were invited to answer the questions. Participants were allowed to fill out consent forms willingly without manipulation after being told what the research entails, including its benefit.
Measures
- Survey. A survey was performed by asking participants about their opinion on their body shape, including rating themselves on a 6-point Likert scale, with 60 traits related to personality. In addition, a question on the participant’s background and personal demographics was included. The participants were not required to put their names on the survey, and all responses were kept with high confidentiality and anonymity. The survey questions were to be answered freely by the participants without penalizing those who submitted an incomplete survey.
- Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS). DMS is a 15-item measure of the degree to which individuals desire to have a more muscular body. Each item on the DMS represents a combination of behaviors and attitudes scored on a 6-point scale ranging from 1, which implies ”very much like me” to 6, which indicates ”not at all like me.” There is good construct validity with DMS about-face, discriminant, and convergent validity. The Cronbach’s alphas for men are.91 and women’s.83.
- Body Shape Questionnaire Scale (BSQS). BSQS is a 34-item questionnaire that measures how people feel about their body shape. BSQ is scored on a 1-6 scale (with 1=Never and 6=Always), with some of the items being calculated from the total scale score and scores ranging from 34 to 204. A higher score indicates more discomfort and dissatisfaction with body concerns.
- Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI). BSRI measures femininity and masculinity used to research gender roles by assessing how individuals recognize themselves psychologically. The test has 60 diverse personality traits where participants rate themselves on a 7-point Likert scale. Personality traits are equally dispersed with 20 gender-neutral traits, 20 feminine, and 20 masculines. BSRI has shown high test-retest reliability and validity with coefficient alphas of.87 for masculinity scale and.78 for femininity scales, and no androgynous scale was used for analysis.
Results
Participants recorded different measures of central tendency for both scales such that for DMS men mean=2.42, SD=0.79, BSQS M=2.48, SD=1.30, BSRI masculinity M=2.28, SD=0.57, and femininity M=2.44, SD=0.45. For women DMS M=1.99, SD=0.61, BSQS M=2.85, SD=1.40, BSRI Masculinity M=2.82, SD=0.70, Femininity M=1.88, SD=1.75. One-way ANOVA was used to ascertain DMS, BSQS, and BSRI measures, as shown in table 1. The results for ANOVA F-ratio indicated a big difference between the two genders. To evaluate how the study variables correlated and whether they related differently based on sexual orientation, correlations were performed for DMS and MAS, DMS and FEM, BSQS and MAS, and BSQS and FEM.
Table 1. Means and Standard Deviations for the DMS and BSRI.
ANOVA Gender DMS
ANOVA Gender BSQS
ANOVA Gender MASC
ANOVA Gender FEM
Correlations
DMS scores were positively interrelated with measures of masculinity such that both men and women associated behaviors and traits that are male-types with the desire for becoming more muscular. Based on DMS and FEM, the findings showed a positive correlation between DMS and femininity, such that drive for masculinity was directly related to femininity. Women who are attracted to muscular individuals influenced men to gain weight. However, women had no association with DMS as they diet to lose more weight. There was no significant correlation between BSQS and MAS; however, BSQS and FEM showed a significant correlation.
Discussion
To determine the difference among men and women in body image concern with muscle mass and body shape or fat, ANOVA and correlation were used to analyze the results. Men recorded higher scores on DMS, while women indicated higher scores on BSQS, which conformed with the theory of McCreary and previous research findings. It was also found that masculinity correlated with a drive for muscularity, unlike femininity, which showed a relationship with a drive for body shape. Studies show that most men experience the drive for gaining muscles to avoid risking depression symptoms and poorer self-esteem. Men also become muscular because women feel more attracted to muscular body shape than ideal body size, thereby posing the urge to want more prominent shoulders, biceps, and pectorals. BSRI findings showed an association between gender about masculinity and femininity. Men depicted having stronger confirmation to gender-role expectations than women did.
The degree of masculinity was positively correlated with DMS, and both women and men interrelated male-typed behaviors and traits with a prerequisite of becoming more muscular. In addition, the studies have also revealed that men seldom encounter clinical disorders related to body images such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia and are relatively happy with their bodies. However, the belief has not considered that adiposity is not equally paramount for men and women. Women depict a thin and small social standard of bodily attractiveness, unlike men, who show big and muscular social standards in a muscular mesomorphic shape. Being muscular has been regarded as essential among adolescent males, with the majority of them engaging in resistance training exercises to gain more muscle mass. The main aim of the previous research was to test the associations between several dimensions of femininity, masculinity, and the drive for muscularity.
Because the research explores the body image concerns among men and women and attempts to solve limitations that previous studies experienced, this research is suitable for psychological studies. The research can provide more insight regarding body image concerns and various scales for measuring traits. The limitation of the study was that the study sample had more women than men, posing an effect on a generalization of results. Therefore, future research should focus on having equal research participants in the study. Because men have a different perception of body image concerns than women, including unbalanced study sample participants is likely to cause misleading results. A questionnaire allows efficient and quick collection of data from study samples. However, this method has limitations, such that respondents are prone to lying due to social desirability. Most individuals want to present a positive image about themselves and lie to look good. In addition, the method is only suitable to educated respondents where open questions are used that require superior writing skills and better capability of expressing one’s feelings orally. To maintain validity and credibility, there is a need for future research to focus on ensuring the data collected is reliable by using the best measures for data collection besides survey questionnaires.
References
Gattario, K. H., Frisén, A., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., Ricciardelli, L. A., Diedrichs, P. C., Yager, Z., & Smolak, L. (2015). How is men’s conformity to masculine norms related to their body image? Masculinity and muscularity across Western countries. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 16(3), 337.
McCreary, D. R., Saucier, D. M., & Courtenay, W. H. (2005). The drive for muscularity and masculinity: Testing the associations among gender-role traits, behaviors, attitudes, and conflict. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 6(2), 83.
Radwan, H., Hasan, H. A., Ismat, H., Hakim, H., Khalid, H., Al-Fityani, L., & Ayman, A. (2019). Body mass index perception, body image dissatisfaction and their relations with weight-related behaviors among university students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(9), 1541.