Body depilation is a relatively new area of research inquiry. Although women in many industrialized cultures have engaged in body depilation for some time, this behavior has been documented only recently in men. While originally thought to be the practice of just a small percentage of men, recent studies suggest that more men engage in body depilation than had been previously hypothesized (Boroughs & Thompson, 2002; Boroughs, Cafri, & Thompson, 2005; Martins, Tiggemann, & Churchett, 2008; Tiggemann, Martins, & Churchett, 2008). Nevertheless, this area of research is understudied and the relationship between body depilation and men's overall body image is poorly understood. Since much of the documented evidence of men's body depilation is either descriptive anecdotes via media accounts (see Gomes, 2001; Smith, 2000; Stuever, 2000; Stein, 1999; Schuler, 2000) or scientific investigations of the behavior that were undertaken to provide descriptive data about body depilation by men (see Boroughs & Thompson, 2002; Boroughs, et al., 2005; Martins, et al., 2008; Porche, 2007; Tiggemann, et al., 2008), now the time has come to further the understanding of this behavior in men. The purpose of these studies was to increase both the breadth and depth of our understanding of body depilation in men and its correlates with general body image concerns. A central aim of the first study was to test Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954) as a workable theoretical paradigm to explain the genesis and maintenance of body depilation. The second study investigated women's attitudes towards men's body hair and men's body depilation. Research questions that have provided the foundation for the design of this study include: a) is there a relationship between men's drive for muscularity, frequency of weekly exercise, and influence by others (via social comparison) that is related to their body depilation behaviors, b) do sexual minority men differ from heterosexual men with regard to depilation behaviors, c) what are women's attitudes toward men's body hair and body depilation by men, and d) how might the attitudes of sexual minority women differ from heterosexual women on the topic of men's body hair and body depilation by men?

The topic of body image has become widely researched in the past thirty years, but preadolescents have been neglected in this area of research. This dissertation explores the body and dieting concerns of pre-adolescent girls in South Africa in order to address this paucity. A qualitative study was conducted, with data collected via a vignette technique and a semi-structured interview which were analysed thematically. A contradiction was noted between what girls expressed to be true in terms of the importance of appearance and how they perceive those that do not adhere to cultural norms of appearance. Weight and appearance were described as unimportant when evaluating a person, but negative attributes were given to the heavier girl in the vignette, opposed to none to the thinner girl. Appearance-control beliefs also emerged as a salient theme, with participants believing that the heavier girl in the vignette could not help that she was overweight. The latter was interpreted as pity, and masked as empathy, as participants suggested ways in which she could lose weight, and it was expressed that she would be a happier person if she did lose weight. Dieting was a well-known concept among participants, with some stating that they had previously engaged in dieting behaviours. / MA / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted

En negativ kroppsuppfattning är vanligare hos kvinnor inom estetiska sporter jämfört med den resterande populationen. Kroppsmissnöje kan leda till ohälsosamma beteenden likt en överdriven träning och ohälsosamma matvanor. Syftet med studien var att studera Bikini Fitness-atleters upplevelser av kroppsuppfattning kopplat till sporten. Studien baserades på Lox et al. (2014) föreslagna modell över faktorer som kan påverka, förklara och förklaras av kroppsuppfattning, bestående av komponenterna interpersonella erfarenheter, psykologiska faktorer, beteende, fysiska egenskaper, sociokulturella influenser och fysiska förändringar. Åtta kvinnliga Bikini Fitness-atleter deltog i studien, varav alla var mellan 21-34 år gamla (M=23.9, SD=4.01). Alla deltagarna hade genomfört en tävlingssatsning det senaste året. En semistrukturerad intervjuguide användes. Resultatet visade att deltagarna hade upplevelser som kunde kopplas till både en positiv och negativ kroppsuppfattning. Komponenterna psykologiska faktorer, beteende, sociokulturella faktorer och fysiska förändringar kunde innan en tävling kopplas till erfarenheter som tyder på en positiv kroppsuppfattning men efter tävlingen kopplas till upplevelser relaterat till en negativ kroppsuppfattning. Trots att både positiva och negativa erfarenheter inrapporterades tydde resultatet på att deltagarna främst upplevde en negativ kroppsuppfattning relaterat till sporten. / A negative body image is more common among women in aesthetic sports compared to the general population. Body dissatisfaction may lead to unhealthy behaviors such as excessive exercise and disturbed food habits. The purpose of the study was to examine Bikini Fitness-athletes experience of body image associated with the sport and competition. The study was based on Lox et al. (2014) proposed model of factors which can affect, explain and be explained by body image, consisting of the components interpersonal experiences, psychological factors, behavior, physical characteristics, sociocultural influences and physical changes. Eight female Bikini Fitness-athletes participated in the study, of which all participants were between 21-34 years of age (M = 23.9, SD = 4.01). All participants had completed a competition in the past year. A semi-structured interview guide was used. The results showed that the participants had experiences that could be linked to both a positive and negative body image. The components psychological factors, behavior, sociocultural factors and physical changes could before a competition be linked to experiences that indicate a positive body image but after the competition be linked to experiences related to negative body perception. Despite both positive and negative experiences reported, the results indicated that the participants mainly experienced a negative body image associated with the sport.

Body image dissatisfaction (BID) is increasing among U.S. men and is associated with body-enhancing behaviors that threaten physical health, such as excessive dieting and exercising. A research gap was identified about the relationships between men's body image dissatisfaction, body-enhancing behaviors, and the possible mediating effect of self-esteem. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among body image dissatisfaction, body-enhancing behaviors, and self-esteem in adult males. Sociocultural and social comparison theory served as the theoretical frameworks for this study, which included 103 participants recruited through a university participant pool and gyms. Participants completed questionnaires including the Body-Esteem Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Exercise Dependence Scale-21, Revised Restraint Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Correlational and regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationships between all constructs and to test self-esteem as the mediating variable. A mediation model showed a relationship between dieting and self-esteem and BID in that high BID was related to low self-esteem. However, self-esteem did not mediate the relationship between diet and exercise. Findings indicated a significant relationship between higher BID and lower self-esteem. Results also indicated a significant relationship between BID and dieting. Results may be used to improve the lives of men affected by BID by informing them about factors that may affect BID and/or self-esteem. Enhancing the understanding of males' low self-esteem and body image may help researchers and practitioners develop more effective interventions.

Adolescents confront a plethora of physical and emotional changes, especially those alterations surrounding puberty. Body image disturbances have become commonplace with high school students, and school personnel seem to have had little success in fighting this problem. Teenagers with body dissatisfaction may also be at risk for mental health problems, such as depression and eating disorders. Gifted adolescents may be particularly susceptible to mental health issues due to a number of specialized issues including overexcitability and social coping ability (Gatto-Walden, 1999). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among body dissatisfaction, gender, type of student (gifted or typical), overall overexcitability, social coping, and an interaction between gender and type of student. A diverse group of 489 participants from six Illinois school districts participated in the study, including 268 females (54.8%), 216 males (44.2%), 4 students identifying as "other" regarding gender (0.8%); one student did not respond to that question (0.2%), and they ranged in age from 14 to 20 (M = 16.6, SD = 1.2). The overall regression model was statistically significant, F(5, 469) = 9.31, p < .001, R2 = .09. The adjusted R2 was .081, which indicated that 8.1% of the variance in body dissatisfaction was explained by the model. This effect was medium in magnitude and consistent with previous research with body dissatisfaction. The results support the idea that gender, overall overexcitability, and social coping significantly explained body dissatisfaction, but being gifted (i.e., type of student) did not significantly contribute to the regression model. In addition, the results did not support a gender by type of student interaction. These findings are interesting in that previous research has linked giftedness and overexcitability, but these variables were not strongly correlated in the current study. However, this information has yielded some important implications for school counselors, clinical mental health counselors, and counselor educators. The author also discussed some areas for further research.

Aim The aim of this work was to create an increased understanding of gymnasts' experiences and views of emotional abuse in relation to perceived body dissatisfaction. Mainly, the work investigated to what extent active and retired gymnasts considered emotional abuse to be acceptable or not and how often they had experienced emotional abuse themselves. Secondary aims were to investigate whether experiences of emotional abuse from coaches were something related to gymnasts' views of their bodies. Method Gymnasts from various gymnastics disciplines participated in the work. The gymnasts who participated were active or retired gymnasts, over 15 years old and identified as female. 52% of the gymnasts were active and 48% previously active. Vignettes based on the Violence Towards Athletes Questionnaire (VTAQ: Parent et al., 2019) as well as the Body Image State Scale (BISS; Cash et al., 2002) were compiled into a two-part web survey in Microsoft Forms. The responses of the 97 participants were collected and analyzed through a variety of statistical analyses, including Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient and the Mann-Whitney U-test. Results The result showed that the gymnasts had experienced emotional abuse to a moderate extent. They also experienced high levels of body dissatisfaction. Positive significant correlations between acceptance and experience of emotional abuse, body dissatisfaction and training amount were found. Gymnasts who experienced higher levels of emotional abuse also reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction. Conclusion A majority of the gymnasts stated that they have experienced emotional abuse at some point in their career. The results indicate that the gymnasts can identify emotionally abusive behaviors and that they do not consider them acceptable. High levels of body dissatisfaction were reported by many gymnasts, which also correlated with more frequent experiences of emotional abuse. / Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet med detta arbete var att skapa en ökad förståelse för gymnasters upplevelser och syn på emotionella övergrepp inom gymnastik i relation till upplevt kroppsmissnöje. Huvudsakligen undersöktes i vilken utsträckning aktiva respektive före detta aktiva gymnaster ansåg emotionella övergrepp vara acceptabla eller inte samt hur ofta de själva hade upplevt emotionella övergrepp. Sekundära syften var att undersöka om upplevelser av emotionella övergrepp ifrån tränare var något som hörde samman med gymnasters syn på sin kropp. Metod Gymnaster inom olika gymnastikdiscipliner tillfrågades delta i arbetet. Gymnasterna som deltog var aktiva eller före detta aktiva gymnaster, över 15 år gamla och identifierade sig som kvinna. 52% av gymnasterna var aktiva och 48% före detta aktiva. Vinjetter baserade på Violence Towards Athletes Questionnaire (VTAQ: Parent et al., 2019) samt Body Image State Scale (BISS; Cash et al., 2002) sammanställdes till en tudelad webbenkät i Microsoft Forms. De 97 deltagarnas svar samlades in och analyserades genom flertalet olika statistiska analyser inklusive Spearmans rangkorrelationskoefficient och Mann-Whitney U-test. Resultat Resultatet visade att gymnasterna hade upplevt emotionella övergrepp i måttlig utsträckning. De upplevde även höga nivåer av kroppsmissnöje. Positiva signifikanta samband mellan acceptans och frekvens av emotionella övergrepp, kroppsmissnöje och träningsmängd upptäcktes. Gymnaster som i högre grad upplevt emotionella övergrepp rapporterade också högre kroppsmissnöje. Slutsats En majoritet av gymnasterna angav att de någon gång hade varit med om emotionella övergrepp. Gymnasterna uppvisade att de kan identifiera emotionella övergreppsbeteenden och ansåg dem inte vara acceptabla. Ett starkt kroppsmissnöje återfanns hos många gymnaster vilket kan höra samman med frekvent upplevelse av emotionella övergrepp.

Background: The ideals of beauty standards had been under constant change throughout history, and quite often would remain out of reach to the determent of many. The application of an idealized image of oneself remains a powerful tool when it comes to persuasion in social media and marketing. Although mostly spoken of within the context of women, the pressure to appeal to the beauty standard does not leave men out. Within fitness, a lot of attention is already focused on the body, and with the boon in technology we find ourselves exposed to the idealized images more than ever. Fitness influencers impact the lives of many, and the trend of an idealized male body image is being promoted daily through social media channels with varying receptions.  Purpose: Previous studies have been primarily focused on women as a sampling group, whereby it has shown that also men suffer from the idealized beauty and body standards which are promoted through different media. Especially, nowadays where social media and the impact of influencer maintain gaining more power over individuals. By studying the effect that image posts from fitness influencer have on the male body image, it is able to understand how male user react to such unrealistic beauty standards. Method: To fulfil the purpose of this qualitative study, 10 in-depth interviews were conducted with male participants in their twenties from international background. All of them followed not only an active lifestyle, which included gymming but as well following fitness influencers on Instagram. As a deductive approach was utilized for this thesis, the collected date was decoded, analysed and interpreted thematically with support of the theory. Conclusion: The findings of this study reveal that men feel content with the perception of their body image when aligned with the ideals portrayed by the fitness influencers. The effects of witnessing the idealized images had led to temporary dissatisfaction in their body image, but the participants had shown to further reflect on the presented content and the outcome resulted in feelings of motivation and a positive expectation of what their further actions could bring. Moreover, the exposure to the images is accompanied by deliberate upward comparisons to further serve as a reflection of desires which results in motivation to continue to participate in the process.

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This study investigates whether there are certain age groups in college that are more susceptible to eating problems and the contributing factors for eating disorders. The participants were 144 college women divided into traditional and non-traditional age groups. The EDI-2, BSI, RSE, and additional items were administered. The results show that non-traditional age college women were as likely to have eating disorder symptoms and more likely to possess body dissatisfaction than traditional age college students. The data support body dissatisfaction, aging concerns, perfectionism, depression, anxiety, and having children as potential risk factors for eating disturbances. This study suggests that there are high prevalence rates of eating disturbances in all college female age groups, but that the highest prevalence may actually be in older women. It is imperative that clinicians and others working in colleges realize these issues can affect students of all ages.

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