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

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This exploratory study was designed to examine the relationships between different aspects of body image and psychological, social, and sexual functioning, rather than simply to document the existence or prevalence of body image concerns. Previous research, based on correlational analyses, has tended to conclude that a negative body image is associated with impaired psychological and interpersonal functioning. However, we used hierarchical regression analyses that controlled for the effects of possible moderator variables (self-esteem, depression, anxiety, BMI, and cross-sex relations), and found that body image variables did not contribute to a unique understanding of psychological, social, and sexual functioning among most groups.

An exception was found for self-esteem as a dependent variable. Self-esteem was predicted by body image variables among all groups. There were few gender differences in the overall strength of the association between body image and self-esteem, a finding that supports a number of previous studies of college students (e.g., Abell & Richards, 1996; Stowers & Durm, 1996), but is inconsistent with the conclusions of other researchers (e.g., Tiggemann, 1994) and the findings from a recent review (Powell & Hendricks, 1999). In the present study, although men at all stages of adulthood were less likely than women to hold a global negative body image, once developed, a poor body image was as strongly related to the general self-concept of men as it was of women. However, the particular aspect of body image most relevant to self-esteem differed according to age and gender. For example, physical attractiveness played an important role among men in early adulthood, but was more relevant to women's self-esteem in later years. Gender differences in the types of body image variables relevant to self-esteem may explain some of the inconsistencies in the literature, given that previous researchers exploring the relationship between body image and self-esteem have typically employed a single measure of body image.

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.

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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.

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