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

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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.

Social Functioning Measures

Participants completed the social anxiety factor of the revised Self-Consciousness Scale (Scheier & Carver, 1985). This subscale contains six items, an example of which is "It takes me time to get over my shyness in new situations." Responses were made on a 4-point Likert scale, from 1 = not at all like me to 4 = a lot like me. Scores ranged from 6 to 24; a high score represents a high level of social anxiety (the responses to one item were reverse scored). The revised Self-Consciousness Scale has demonstrated good psychometric properties with samples from the general population (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Internal reliability was moderate among men ([alpha] > .70) and high among women ([alpha] > .80) in the present study.

Social functioning was also assessed by the Same-Sex Relations and Opposite-Sex Relations subscales of the Self-Description Questionnaire III (Marsh, 1989). Each subscale contains 10 items. An example of same-sex relations is "I have few friends of the same sex that I can really count on," and an example of opposite-sex relations is "I make friends easily with members of the opposite sex." Responses to each subscale were made on an 8-point Likert scale, from 1 = definitely false to 8 = definitely true. Scores ranged from 10 to 80; a high score indicates positive same-sex or opposite-sex relations (the responses to some items were reverse scored). These subscales have been found to have adequate internal consistency and reliability in previous studies (Marsh, 1989), and internal reliability for each scale was high among both men and women in the present study ([alpha] > .80).

Sexual Functioning Measures

Sexual functioning was measured with three subscales from the Multidimensional Sexual Self-Concept Questionnaire (Snell, 1995). The Sexual Self-Efficacy Scale contains five items, an example of which is "I have the ability to take care of any sexual needs and desires that I may have." The Sexual Optimism Scale contains five items, an example of which is "I expect that the sexual aspects of my life will be positive and rewarding in the future." The Sexual Satisfaction Scale contains five items, an example of which is "I am satisfied with the way my sexual needs are currently being met." Responses to items on each scale were made on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 = not at all true to 5 = very true. Scores on each scale ranged from 5 to 25; a high score represents a high level of the construct--high sexual self-efficacy, high sexual optimism, and high sexual satisfaction (the responses to some items were reverse scored). Internal consistency of the scales has previously been found to be high, and research has produced reasonable evidence for their validity (Snell, 2001). Internal reliability for each scale was high among both men and women ([alpha] > .80) in the present study.

Procedure

Participants were recruited from the general community; they were selected at random from the White Pages telephone directory of metropolitan Melbourne and a variety of rural areas in Victoria, Australia. Questionnaires were distributed by mail to individuals who agreed to participate, and were completed at home and returned via mail to the researchers. A total of 157 individuals indicated they did not want to participate in the study and received no further contact from the researchers. Of the 720 questionnaires distributed, 437 were returned, which resulted in a response rate of 60.69% among those who agreed to receive a questionnaire, and an overall response rate of 49.83% among those contacted. There was no incentive provided for individuals to participate in the study, and responses were anonymous. Completion of the questionnaire took approximately 20-30 min.

RESULTS

In order to address the hypotheses outlined earlier, multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to determine the nature of sex and age differences in body image. Regression analyses were then conducted to determine which aspects of body image (if any) predicted the psychological, social, and sexual functioning of both men and women in each age group. Because of the number of analyses being conducted p < .01 was used to define significant results (Coakes & Steed, 1999).

Gender and Age Differences in Body Image

Differences in body image between men and women and among the different age groups were examined using a 2-way MANOVA, after controlling for the effects of Body Mass Index (BMI). Independent variables were gender and age group, and dependent variables were physical attractiveness, body image satisfaction, body image importance, body concealment, body improvement, social physique anxiety, and appearance comparison. Body image was found to be significantly different for men and women, F(7, 368) = 22.48, p < .001, and for different age groups, F(14, 738) = 6.00, p < .001. There was no significant interaction effect. The univariate F-tests for each dependent variable were examined in order to determine which body image variables contributed to the significant multivariate effects.

Women reported a lower level of body image satisfaction, F(1, 381) = 35.92, p < .001, and a higher level of social physique anxiety, F(1, 381) = 64.87, p < .001, than men did (see Table II). Women also reported concealing their bodies more frequently than men did, F(1, 381) = 130.38, p < .001, and they were more likely than men to engage in appearance comparisons, F(1, 381) = 25.61, p < .001. However, there were no differences between men and women in their ratings of physical attractiveness, body image importance, or level of engagement in efforts to improve their bodies.

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After we controlled for the effects of BMI, we found significant differences between age groups in body image satisfaction, F(2, 381) = 11.74, p < .001, and body concealment, F(2, 381) = 5.52, p < .01; men and women in their 30s and 40s reported lower satisfaction with their bodies, and more frequent attempts to conceal their bodies, than did other participants (see Table II). Social physique anxiety scores also differed significantly between age groups, F(2, 381) = 18.97, p < .001; individuals in late adulthood reported a lower level of concern about others evaluating their bodies than did the younger participants. In addition, level of engagement in appearance comparison differed significantly between age groups, F(2, 381) = 12.34, p < .001; individuals in late adulthood were less likely than others to make appearance comparisons. Ratings of physical attractiveness, body image importance, and body improvement did not differ significantly between participants of different age groups.

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