Body-Image Perceptions across Sex and Age Groups

Abstract

Weight dissatisfaction, body dissatisfaction, and body-image distortion measures were used with 98 fifth and eighth graders and 57 undergraduate students. Measures included the Piers-Harris Self-concept Scale and the Kids Eating Disorder Survey for the young children, the Interpersonal Behavior Survey, and a seven-item mistaken beliefs scale for the college sample. Body dissatisfaction and Body-image distortion were assessed with a figure-drawing procedure. Significant differences in both weight dissatisfaction and body dissatisfaction were found between males and females in the eighth grade and undergraduate groups. There were no significant sex-differences in body-image distortion in the fifth or eighth grades, but significant differences in body-image distortion between men and women were found in the college sample. The direction of body-image distortion for both the 20 men and the 37 women was consistent with their ideal weight. In the college sample, there was a significant correlation between body-image dissatisfaction and self-confidence for the women but not for the men.