Human Standards for Ideal Body

Human standards for ideal body size have changed dramatically within the past hundred years. Recent trends within body image shows that an alarming number of young men and women perceive themselves inadequate in the search for idealized figures. Within the United States alone, approximately ten percent of girls and women are suffering from diagnosed eating disorders as a result of unrealistic pressures to become thin. Research has been conducted since the early 1980s on how gender roles plays into the dichotomy of weight control and ideal body perception. In 1987, Worsley and Crawford conducted an experiment with Australian adults and found that 50% of women and 39% of men think of themselves as overweight. However, a realistic measure of height and weight data showed that the real proportion is 30% for both men and women. The glaring gap between perceived and actual weight values shows a strongly negative trend towards obsessive weight loss and many other impacts of negative body type perceptions. It is even more disturbing that a significant number of adults who were within acceptable weight limits wanted to lose weight in order to become underweight. The epidemic towards weight loss has a significant impact on health and safety. The American Psychiatric Association suggests that of all psychological disorders those associated with unhealthy weight loss through eating disorders and substance abuse is the greatest cause of patient mortality (edreferral, npg).

Several studies have been conducted to compare gender differences in terms of their preference for ideal figures. Influential research shows that women characteristically believe that their ideal body image is much slimmer than average, whereas men seem to have no discernable difference between ideal and current body shape (Fallon and Rozin, 1985). However, other studies have shown that men may be even more dissatisfied with their bodies and body shapes than females (Abell and Richards 1996). The cultural forces that create these perceptions of ideal body type are promoted through popular media, and reinforced through social convention. These cultural forces have only increased rather than abetted in the last decade. As a result, more current analysis of research needs to be conducted in order to fully understand the implication of persistent problems associated with body image perception. The following study will focus on two distinct hypotheses. First, that females will have an ideal body shape that is slimmer than their current shape, while concurrently males will have no significant differences between their perception of ideal and current body shape. Second, both males and females will overestimate the extent to which the opposite sex actually shares these preferences. These were the same hypothesis tested by Fallon and Rozin within their original experiment, a closer look at updated survey results will shed light on the current severity of body image perception.

Methods:

The data within this study was collected through Monash University in Australia. The participants of the survey were unsolicited visitors to the Monash University website. Since this study was mandatory for psychology students enrolled within the department, it can be assumed that the majority of participants were students within the University psychology department. The cultural, sociological and economic make up of the participants are blind however. The total data contains one hundred and sixty six surveys that were completed within the span of a year between 2003 and 2004. Age distribution data shows that the majority of participants were between the ages of 16 and 30, the data is most conclusive for this age group.

The materials required for this study was a questionnaire constructed by Professor Peter Prevos. The questionnaire consists of seven questions regarding body shape and a further five questions regarding age, gender and possible concerns with body shape and dieting. Each of these questions asks the participant to rate themselves from one to nine according to a diagram of body shape progressing in body size. They rated themselves on both their current body type as well as their ideal body type preference in both themselves and males. The same study methodology has been taken from previous research done by Fallon and Rozin.

The procedure for this experiment was to compare the overall body image perception of females weighted against their male counterparts. The variables of the test were the perceived current body shape of the individual, the ideal body shape of the individual, and the body shape the other gender found most attractive. All of this data was sorted by gender as well as age.

Results:

The results for women are shown in the below table. Results were obtained by averaging all 1744 women within the study's self-assessed body size, and compared to their average desired body size. The results show that there is a significant difference between perceived and desired body size. Women on average have a difference of 1.14 between perceived and desired, which shows that there is significant pressure to become thinner. This data seems to support the previous hypothesis presented within Fallon and Rozin. Even more startling however were the results for the 877 men within the study. It showed that while on average men perceive themselves to have a slimmer build than women; their desired body size is actually smaller than that of women. The difference between perceived and desired is almost identical to that of women at 1.11.

Average Body Size

Average Desired Body Size

Difference

Female

Male

Results testing the second hypothesis revealed a significant difference between gender perceptions, these differences are displayed within the below table. Data shows that both men and women over estimate the level of their desired body types compared with attractiveness. The difference between the most attractive male body types to women compared to the average desired body size of men shows an overall difference of.53. While the most attractive body size to men and the average desired female body size has a difference of.26. The data seems to suggest that men have a greater over inflation of their body size perception than women by a significant figure.

Most Attractive Body Size

Average Desired Body Size

Difference

Female

Male

Additional assessment of the data shows that overall, women and men have almost no difference in what the heaviest acceptable body size is, with both projected between 5.31 and 5.33. Similarly, the overall rating of most attractive body size to both men and women is also almost identical, with a difference of.150161.

Female

Male

Difference

Heaviest Acceptable

Most Attractive

Discussion:

The overall difference in women's perceived and ideal body size found within the survey confirms previous research conducted by Fallon and Rozin. Women are dissatisfied with their body size, and the data shows that since 1985, women have not decreased their high body dissatisfaction. However, more disturbing is the trend presented within men, which shows that they are even more inclined to be dissatisfied with their body and perceive themselves to need an even smaller body size than women. This goes against the first hypothesis that we drew in regards to men and their indifference to current and ideal body size. This pattern shows that the prevalent cultural and social forces that created an epidemic of body dissatisfaction within women are now equally affecting men. The influence of the media is one of the primary outlets for blame for the wide spread desire for body size change. The integration of increased media outlets through film, television and the internet perpetuates the desire to be thin. Research conducted by Turner in 1997 shows that the media not only reflects current perceptions of body size, but also helps to significantly shape it. In regards to men, the data shows that there is a significant difference between current and ideal body size. This factor, which was not evident within the Fallon and Rozin study could be attributed to one of several possible factors. The ideal body size for men has decreased within the last decade since the last study conducted. This could have been caused by media portrayals and shifting cultural trends. Another reason is that their could actually be an increase in the overall body size of men during this period. The evidence pointing to this factor has been the global obesity epidemic which shows that overall, obesity has grown at an exponential pace since the early 1990s. Either of these factors could be an explanation for why the data has modified so much in recent years.

The second hypothesis tested by Fallon and Rozin in 1985 was that the difference between ideal body shape and the most desirable body shape would be significantly overestimated. Their study found that both men and women ideally desire a much lower body shape than men and women find ideally attractive. This misinformation is attributed by Fallon and Rozin to the existence of extremely thin men and women within the media and fashion industry. This data differs however from Fallon and Rozin in the degree of difference shown within the study. Men are actually significantly more overestimated in their ideal compared with desired body shape than women. This data was not reflective of the trend in 1985. There could be numerous reasons for the shift, including the growing trend of body fitness and overall media portrayal of the male physique.