Abstract
Research presented in this special issue focuses on a number of key contemporary themes relating to gendered body image. This paper considers what these studies tell us about the associations between body image and self-esteem, internalization of thin/muscular ideals, social comparison, and social identity and makes suggestions for interventions to improve body image in girls/women and boys/men. It is concluded that psycho-social interventions to reduce internalization, to make social comparison processes more realistic, to raise self-esteem and to enable people to question social identities related to body dissatisfaction may be useful short-term solutions to improving body image in males and females with negative images of their bodies. Since most evidence for effectiveness of these kinds of interventions has focused on women and girls, more work is needed on how to make these effective for men and boys.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anschutz, D. J., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2010). The effects of playing with thin dolls on body image and food intake in young girls. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9871-6.
Arbour, K. P., & Martin-Ginis, K. (2006). Effects of exposure of muscular and hypermuscular images on young men’s muscularity dissatisfaction and body dissatisfaction. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 3, 153–162. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2006.03.004.
Bartky, S. (1990). Femininity and domination: Studies in the phenomenology of oppression. New York: Routledge.
Bordo, S. (2003). Unbearable weight: Feminism, Western culture, and the body (Tenth Anniversary Edition). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Boroughs, M. S., Krawczyk, R., & Thompson, J. K. (2010). Body dysmorphic disorder among diverse racial/ethnic and sexual orientation groups: Prevalence estimates and associated factors. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9831-1.
Cafri, G., Thompson, J. K., Ricciardelli, L., McCabe, M., Smolak, L., & Yesalis, C. (2005). Pursuit of the muscular ideal: Physical and psychological consequences and putative risk factors. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 215–239. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2004.09.003.
Cash, T. F., & Hrabosky, J. I. (2004). The effects of psychoeducation and self-monitoring in a cognitive-behavioral program for body-image improvement. Eating Disorders, 11, 255–270. doi:10.1080/10640260390218657.
Cash, T. F., & Strachan, M. T. (2002). Cognitive-behavioral approaches to changing body image. In T. F. Cash & T. Pruzinsky (Eds.), Body image: A handbook of theory, research, and clinical practice (pp. 478–486). New York: The Guilford.
Catterin, J., Thompson, J. K., Thomas, C. M., & Williams, R. (2000). Body image, mood and televised images of attractiveness: The role of social comparison. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 220–239.
Chait, S. R., Thompson, J. K., & Jacobsen, P. B. (2009). Relationship of body image to breast and skin self-examination intentions and behaviors. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 1, 60–63. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2008.09.003.
Choi, P. Y. L. (2000). Femininity and the physically active woman. London: Routledge.
Choma, B. L., Visser, B. A., Pozzebon, J. A., Bogaert, A. F., Busseri, M. A., & Sadava, S. W. (2010). Self-objectification, self-esteem, and gender: Testing a moderated mediation model. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9829-8.
Dionne, M., Davis, C., Fox, J., & Gurevich, M. (1995). Feminist ideology as a predictor of body dissatisfaction in women. Sex Roles, 33, 277–287. doi:10.1007/BF01544615.
Duncan, M. C., & Robinson, T. (2004). Obesity and body ideals in the media: Health and fitness practices of young African-American women. Quest, 56, 77–104.
Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140.
Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T.-A. (1997). Objectification theory: Towards understanding women’s lived experience and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x.
Grogan, S. (2008). Body image: Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children (2nd ed.). London: Taylor and Francis.
Grogan, S., & Richards, H. (2002). Body image focus groups with boys and men. Men and Masculinities, 4, 219–232. doi:10.1177/1097184X02004003001.
Grogan, S., Williams, Z., & Conner, M. (1996). The effects of viewing same-gender photographic models on body-esteem. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 569–575.
Grogan, S., Shepherd, S., Evans, R., Wright, S., & Hunter, G. (2006). Experiences of anabolic steroid use: In-depth interviews with men and women body builders. Journal of Health Psychology, 11, 849–860. doi:10.1177/1359105306069080.
Grogan, S., Fry, G., Gough, B., & Conner, M. (2009). Smoking to stay thin or giving up to save face: Young men and women talk about appearance concerns and smoking. British Journal of Health Psychology, 14, 175–186. doi:10.1348/135910708X327617.
Harriger, J. A., Calogero, R. M., Witherington, D. C., & Smith, J. E. (2010). Body size stereotyping and internalization of the thin ideal in preschool girls. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9868-1.
Hesse-Biber, S., Livingstone, S., Ramirez, D., Barko, E., & Johnson, A. L. (2010). Racial identity and body image among Black female college students attending predominantly white colleges. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9862-7.
Hill, J. P., & Lynch, M. E. (1987). The intensification of gender-related role expectations during early adolescence. In J. Brooks-Gunn & A. Petersen (Eds.), Girls at puberty: Biological and psychosocial perspectives (pp. 201–228). New York: Plenum.
Jarry, J. L., & Berardi, K. (2004). Characteristics and effectiveness of stand-alone body image treatments: A review of the empirical literature. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 1, 319–333. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.10.005.
Jarry, J. L., & Ip, K. (2005). The effectiveness of stand-alone cognitive-behavioral therapy for body image: A meta-analysis. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 2, 317–333. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2005.10.001.
Karazsia, B. T., & Crowther, J. H. (2010). Sociocultural and psychological links to men’s engagement in risky body change behaviors. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9802-6.
King, T. K., Matacin, M., White, K., & Marcus, B. H. (2005). A prospective examination of body image and smoking cessation in women. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 2, 19–28. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2005.01.003.
Levine, M. P., & Piran, N. (2004). The role of body image in the prevention of eating disorders. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 1, 57–70. doi:10.1016/S1740-1445(03)00006-8.
Levine, M. P., & Smolak, L. (2002). Ecological and activism approaches to the prevention of body image problems. In T. F. Cash & T. Pruzinsky (Eds.), Body image. A handbook of theory, research, and clinical practice (pp. 497–505). New York: The Guilford.
Levine, M. P., & Smolak, L. (2006). The prevention of eating problems and eating disorders: Theory, research and practice. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
McCreary, D. R. (2007). The drive for muscularity. In J. K. Thompson & G. Cafri (Eds.), The muscular ideal: Psychological, social and medical perspectives (pp. 87–106). Washington DC: APA.
Marchessault, G. (2000). One mother and daughter approach to resisting weight preoccupation. In B. Miedema, J. M. Stoppard, & V. Anderson (Eds.), Women’s bodies, women’s lives (pp. 203–226). Toronto: Sumach.
Mellor, D., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., McCabe, M. P., & Ricciardelli, L. A. (2010). Body image and self-esteem across age and gender: A short-term longitudinal study. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9813-3.
Monaghan, L. (2005). Big handsome men, bears and others: Virtual constructions of ‘fat male embodiment’. Body and Society, 11, 81–111.
Newheiser, A.-K., LaFrance, M., & Dovidio, J. F. (2010). Others as objects: How women and men perceive the consequences of self-objectification. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9879-y.
O’Dea, J. (1995). Everybody’s different: A self esteem program for young adolescents. Sydney: University of Sydney.
O’Dea, J. A. (2004). Evidence for a self-esteem approach in the prevention of body image and eating problems among children and adolescents. Eating Disorders, 12, 225–241. doi:10.1080/10640260490481438.
O’Dea, J. A., & Abraham, S. (2000). Improving the body image, eating attitudes, and behaviors of young male and female adolescents: A new educational approach that focuses on self-esteem. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 28, 43–57. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(200007)28:1<43::AID-EAT6>3.0.CO;2-D.
Ogden, J. (1992). Fat chance: The myth of dieting explained. London: Routledge.
O’Neil, J. M. (2008). Summarizing 25 years of research on men’s gender role conflict using the gender role conflict scale: New research paradigms and clinical implications. The Counseling Psychologist, 36, 358–445. doi:10.1177/0011000008317057.
Overstreet, N. M., Quinn, C. D., & Agovha, V. B. (2010). Beyond thinness: The influence of a curvaceous body on body dissatisfaction in black and white women. Sex Roles, 63, 91–103. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9792-4.
Paxton, S. J. (1993). A prevention program for disturbed eating in adolescent girls: A one year follow up. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice, 8, 43–51.
Paxton, S. J., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Hannon, P. J., & Eisenberg, M. E. (2006). Body dissatisfaction prospectively predicts depressive mood and low self-esteem in adolescent girls and boys. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35, 539–549. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3504_5.
Peterson, R. D., Tantleff-Dunn, S., & Bedwell, J. S. (2006). The effects of exposure to feminist ideology on women’s body image. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 3, 237–246. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2006.05.004.
Petrie, T. A., Greenleaf, C., & Martin, S. (2010). Biopsychosocial and physical correlates of middle school boys’ and girls’ body satisfaction. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9872-5.
Pompper, D. (2010). Masculinities, the metrosexual, and media images: Across dimensions of age and ethnicity. Sex Roles, this issue.
Pope, H. G., Phillips, K. A., & Olivardia, R. (2000). The Adonis complex: The secret crisis of male body obsession. New York: The Free.
Shroff, H., & Thompson, J. K. (2006). The tripartite influence model of body image and eating disturbance: A replication with adolescent girls. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 3, 17–25. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2005.10.004.
Smolak, L. M., & Stein, J. A. (2010). A longitudinal investigation of gender role and muscle building in adolescent boys. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9819-x.
Springer, E. A., Winzelberg, A. J., Perkins, R., & Taylor, C. B. (1999). Effects of a body image curriculum for college students on improved body image. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26, 13–20. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199907)26:1<13::AID-EAT2>3.0.CO;2-5.
Steese, S., Dollette, M., Phillips, W., Hossfeld, E., Matthews, G., & Taormina, G. (2006). Understanding girls’ circle as an intervention on perceived social support, body image, self efficacy, locus of control, and self-esteem. Adolescence, 41, 55–64.
Stice, E., & Shaw, H. (2004). Eating disorder prevention programs: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 206–227. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.206.
Stice, E., Shaw, H., Burton, E., & Wade, E. (2006). Dissonance and healthy weight eating disorder prevention programs: A randomized efficacy trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 24, 263–275. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.74.2.263.
Thompson, J. K., Heinberg, L. J., Altabe, M. N., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (1999). Exacting beauty: Theory, assessment, and treatment of body image disturbance. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Tiggemann, M. (2005). Body dissatisfaction and adolescent self-esteem: Prospective findings. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 2, 129–136. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2005.03.006.
Tylka, T. L., & Sabik, N. J. (2010). Integrating social comparison theory and self-esteem within objectification theory to predict women’s disordered eating. Sex Roles, 63, 18–31. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9785-3.
Tylka, T. L., Bergeron, D., & Schwartz, J. P. (2005). Development and psychometric evaluation of the Male Body Attitudes Scale (MBAS). Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 2, 161–175. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2005.03.001.
van den Berg, P., Paxton, S. J., Keery, H., Wall, M., Guo, J., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2007). Body dissatisfaction and body comparison with media images in males and females. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 4, 257–269. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2007.04.003.
Von Soest, T., Kvalem, I. L., Skolleborg, K. C., & Roald, H. E. (2006). Psychosocial factors predicting the motivation to undergo cosmetic surgery. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 117, 51–62.
Warren, C. S., Schoen, A., & Schafer, K. (2010). Media internalization and social comparison as predictors of eating pathology among Latino adolescents: The moderating effect of gender and generational status. Sex Roles, this issue. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9876-1.
Wilcox, S. (1997). Age and gender in relation to body attitudes: Is there a double standard of aging? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 549–565. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00130.x.
Wood-Barcalow, N., Tylka, T. L., & Augustus-Horvath, C. L. (2010). But I like my body: Positive body image characteristics and a holistic model for young-adult women. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 7, 106–116. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2010.01.001.
Wykes, M., & Gunter, B. (2005). The media and body image. London: Sage.
Yamamiya, Y., Cash, T. F., Melnyk, S. E., Posavac, H. D., & Posavac, S. S. (2005). Women’s exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images: Body image effects of media-ideal internalization and impact-reduction interventions. Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 2, 74–80. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.11.001.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grogan, S. Promoting Positive Body Image in Males and Females: Contemporary Issues and Future Directions. Sex Roles 63, 757–765 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9894-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9894-z