Body Image Dissatisfaction and its Relationships with Gender, Social Anxiety, and Depression

Abstract

Body image dissatisfaction is a term that encompasses an array of concerns and mental disorders that manifest around insecurities about aspects of one’s physical appearance. Body image dissatisfaction is a widespread culturally perpetuated phenomenon that affects men and women distinctly, and often correlates with other forms of mental disturbance. In this study, 112 undergraduate Princeton participants (39 male, 73 female) took the Emotional Effects of Body Image Concerns Survey in order to ascertain gender differences in body image dissatisfaction as well as correlative social anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results showed that women reported more overall body dissatisfaction and body fat dissatisfaction than men, but, contrary to prior literature, men’s reporting of higher muscular dissatisfaction was not statistically significant. Body image dissatisfaction was correlated with both social anxiety and depression, but no statistically significant difference was found between the genders.