More Positive Body Image Found Among African American Students and Male Students
Body image might become more salient as young adults arrive to college. More interaction with peers in classes and outside of class in social situations might lead to more “sizing up” among students as they compare their body to others. More opportunities for sexual and romantic relationships could also contribute to more self objectification.
The ideal body type portrayed by our society is out of reach for many young women as they aspire to be unrealistically thin. Furthermore, young men might be feeling this social pressure as a muscular frame is becoming society’s ideal to strive for. Body image is an important construct for psychologists to study as it can impact other aspects of young adults’ mental health, such as feelings of depression or disordered eating behaviors. Meghan Gillen and Eva Lefkowitz not only examined differences among male students and female students, but they also examined ethnic differences in body image. Their study was based on a total of 434 African American, Latino/a American, and European American students in their first-semester of college.
As the researchers expected, male students had more positive body image than female students. Female students paid more attention to their appearance and rated the importance of appearance higher than males did. Female students evaluated their appearance more negatively and were less satisfied with areas of their body. These findings could be explained by the greater social pressure felt by young women to strive for thinness. When asked about body dissatisfaction, women were more likely to want their bodies to be smaller, whereas men had greater variability in their responses. Some male students wanted their body’s to be larger, while others wanted their body’s to be smaller. The authors noted that this could be due to some men wanting to be thinner, while also building muscle and getting larger in some areas.
Compared to the European Americans and Latino/a Americans in the study, African Americans had a more positive image. Male and female African American college students may be at an advantage because of greater acceptability of different body sizes in their culture. African American students might be more likely to reject the thin ideal and embrace a healthier or larger body size, greatly easing this social pressure felt by many of their peers. If students of all ethnicities could feel this level of acceptance for their bodies, we would likely see a decline in eating disorders on college campuses.
If you think you need help for an eating disorder or unhealthy thoughts about your weight or appearance, please contact Penn State’s Counseling and Psychological Services. http://www.sa.psu.edu/caps/
You can also receive free nutrition counseling from registered dieticians at University Health Services. Dieticians can help you identify unhealthy dietary behaviors and assist you in creating a healthy meal plan and setting nutrition goals. http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/health/wellness/nutritionClinic.shtml