1. PRESENTED BY:
TAYLOR HARTMAN
JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY:
CELEBRATION OF SCHOLARSHIP
APRIL 15, 2015
College Men’s Perceptions of Body
Image and Body Satisfaction: The
Influences of Identity

2. History of College Males and Body Image
 There’s a clear distinction between types of body image
perception in males.
 Approximately 90% of all reported cases of muscle
dysmorphia occur in males (Grieve, 2007), contrastingly,
other males make up approximately 10% of all reported
cases of anorexia nervosa (Carlat, 1997).
 Past research of young males and body image indicate
high levels of body dissatisfaction.
 95% of the college aged men express some dissatisfaction
with bodily appearance (Mishkind, Rodin, Silberstein, and
Striegel-Moore, 1986).

3. Foundational Theories
 Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954)
 Argues that individuals make self-appraisals by
evaluating themselves relative to others.
 Cultivation theory (Gerbner, 1969)
 Hypothesizes that internalization of media messages,
even those that are implicit in nature, have cumulative
effects on perceptions of social reality (i.e. living up to
goals purposed by the media as realistic).

4. Changing Media Portrayals
 Over the last several decades, images of men have
increasingly gotten more muscular and idealized.
 An analysis of Playgirl models revealed muscle mass
increased from 1973 to 1997 (Leit, Pope, & Gray, 2001).
 Male action figures give young males the idea of toughness,
strength and masculinity (e.g., G.I. Joe), with more recent
figures depicting near-impossible body proportions (Pope,
Olivardia, Gruber, & Borowiecki, 1999).
 According to interviews at Ohio State University, “Society
portrays the ideal body shape for men to be strong, defined,
and cut”(Ridgeway and Tykla, 2005)

5. Awareness of Media Influence
 Most young men seem to be unaware of—or
unwilling to admit to—the influence of media
portrayals.
 They claim the idealized body image portrayed in
the media have no or little influence on the self but
have great influence on their peers (Hargreaves
and Tiggemann, 2006).

6. Sexuality and Male Body Image
 To date, few studies have examined the relationship
among sexual orientation, media images, and eating
and body image concerns among men.
 Among both gay and straight men, consumption of fitness
magazines is significantly related to pathological eating
attitudes and drive towards muscularity. (Duggan and
McCreary, 2004)
 Only among gay men is fitness magazine and pornography
consumption related to significantly greater social physique
anxiety (Duggan and McCreary, 2004).

7. Sexuality and Male Body Image
 Fredrickson & Roberts, (1997) found that among gay
college males, negative childhood experiences due to
gender nonconformity increased the likelihood of
internalizing media influences.
 This led to increased symptoms of eating pathology due to
body surveillance (valuing body aesthetics over function)
and body shame.

8. Methods
 Conducted five qualitative semi-structured in-
depth interviews
 Open ended questions; focuses on the perceptions and
meanings of the participant.
 Recruitment strategies:
 Convenience sampling/snowball sampling through email,
in person, recruitment flyers.

9. Sample Characteristics
 5 male students (N=5)
 All at John Carroll University
 Demographics
 Sexual Orientation: 4 heterosexual, 1 homosexual
 Age: 18-22 (mean – 20.8)
 Class Year: 3 seniors, 1 junior, 1 freshman
 All self-identified as middle-class
 All white/Caucasian
 Mental health status:
 1 of 5 male students currently suffers from clinically diagnosed
Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder

10. • Gender and body image
• Sexual orientation, relationships, and body image
• Influence of sports, media, and body image
FINDINGS

11. Gender and Body Image
 All of the men said that being male affected
their body image experience.
“The biggest issue, we're [the track team]
skinnier than a lot of girls. So, girls don't
wanna date kids who're skinnier than them. I
guess that would be the biggest thing, but, at
the same time I kinda understand. I wouldn’t
either, if I was a girl. But, like I’m okay with
that, so I would just go for a girl that was
skinnier” (Participant #5, senior).

12. Gender and Body Image (cont.)
 Men were not supposed to worry about their
body, as this was not perceived as
“masculine.”
 “I think that’s kinda the manhood, the manliness
that society, that we ask of ourselves. We ask of
our boys and men, so I, ugh . . . I barely, let alone,
I don’t think it’s acceptable for some boys, for
some boys to eat vegetables because that’s seen as
girly” (Participant #3, junior).

13. Gender and Body Image (cont.)
 All participants thought that most men are
concerned with becoming bigger (rather than
smaller) in response to media images.
 “On the male side, I think that there's two prongs for most
men. It’s about you know, being very athletic, being very
muscular, being in shape, etc. And that in itself is a form of
body issue. For me personally, though, I've been more so
toward the anorexia, thin, side of it, which can kind of
encompass this weird kind of positioning of my gender.
Because, I think most guys my age are about getting
bigger, and getting athletic, I’m just like, you know, trying
to be my thin little self” (Participant #1).

14. Drive for Thinness
 While some participants did work at getting
bigger, others worried about being too fat.
“Uhm, I would say just based on the whole idea
on the calorie restriction, there are some days
where for whatever reason there’s like an off
or fat day, I will potentially calorie restrict,
uhm that was again, maybe the self-
destructive pattern of behaviors” (Participant #1,
senior).

15. Drive for Thinness (cont.)
 “Yah, I would go to CVS, uhm, I’m trying to
remember, this was years ago, but I went to CVS. I
didn’t have a car, so I walked. I was scanning the
shelves and thinking, ‘what’s gonna lose me weight--
what’s gonna get rid of fat?’ and I would just try a
couple things and uhm, yah. I would try them and I
wouldn’t really tell anybody what they were, ‘cause
when it’s powder, you just stir it into a water and it
looks like fruit punch, uhm, and it didn’t work”
(Participant #3, junior).

16. Sexual Orientation and Body Image
 All men, to one degree or another, said that their
sexuality influenced how they felt their body
should look.
 “Well, straight men wouldn’t really care about his body
image as much because a gay man would. Uhm, they, you
know, they’ll eat whatever. They [straight men] care
about, you know, ripping it up in the gym here and there,
but besides from that, it’s prevalent, it’s the idea, it’s, the
biggest concern for the average straight guy I hang out
with, is getting some on the weekend. It's not about what
they're eating” (Participant #3, junior).

17. Relationships and Body Image
 All of the men referenced that seeking a partner relied
on attaining a certain body image.
 “Well, yeah. You know, you're more fit, more toned,
more in shape, you're gonna have ah, a better body
image and therefore, you're gonna have a better uhm
ah, like, encouragement to go out and get girls or
whatever” (Participant #4, freshman).

18. Comparing Bodies
 Some men had pointed out that comparing their
bodies to others had caused them distress:
 “Yah, it’s definitely more so comparative, its not
necessarily like, ‘oh, I need to drop like 10 pounds’. I’m
not much of a weight or pound watcher; I never weigh
myself. It’s more so not even really like, again, obviously
we all compare, but not necessarily compare in like ‘oh
do much curls so I can get better’. I’m just more of a
comparison, subconsciously or consciously that leads to
[negative] mood, that leads to the [negative] sensation”
(Participant #1, senior).

19. Sports, Media, and Body Image
 Sports was influential for many of them. Competition
in what your body can do, not what it looks like—for
body image satisfaction purposes.
 “If someone performs better than me, it’s generally
because they're in better shape than I am, right? So,
they might be stronger, or lighter, you know, weigh
less, and that would be a chance for me to say that I
need to change something about myself” (Participant #2,
senior).

20. Sports, Media, and Body Image (cont.)
 All men had said that media portrayals of the
“ideal” male body influenced their perceptions of
their bodies.
 “I see Gaylin—like a fast distance runner—like Gaylin Rupp, or
Mo Farah. You think, ‘oh the fastest man in the world, like wow,
like, their calves are so defined and their quads and their form is
perfect’. Like, that's what I want to be. That would make me the
best runner. So, I guess I would strive for that, and definitely,
yah, definitely could see that. I mean, there's so many like, if you
go, if you see magazines like, buff guys or like, really big lifter
guys, and I could see that, absolutely” (Participant #5, senior).

21. Conclusions
 College-aged males tend to state that being a male, it
isn’t as appropriate or generally accepted to discuss
body image and weight.
 Media and other societal factors appear to be strong
influences on body image (including television and
pro-athletes).
 Sports play a role in the sociological realm of
masculinity and society’s construction of the “ideal”
male body image.
 Within my sample, some males tended to strive for
thinness, while others strive for more muscle mass.

22. Limitations/Future Research
 Lack of generalizability, sample size very small (N=5)
 Lack of diversity: Mostly athletes, all were white, only 1
gay male.
 Future research can focus on one segment of the male
population, such as LGBTQ, athletes, inpatient eating
disorder clinics, etc.
 Future research could also investigate interconnections
between biological, psychological, and societal factors.