Citation

Hargreaves DA, Tiggemann M. Psychol. Men Masc. 2009; 10(2): 109-119.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/a0014691

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the role of social comparison processes in men's responses to images of muscular-ideal male beauty. A sample of 104 male university students viewed either 15 television commercials containing images of men who epitomize the current muscular ideal, or 15 nonappearance commercials containing no such images. Body satisfaction was assessed immediately before and after commercial viewing. Appearance evaluation and orientation were also examined as moderating variables. It was found that exposure to muscular-ideal television commercials led to lower muscle satisfaction and physical attractiveness than nonappearance commercials, with men high on appearance orientation the most vulnerable. Men high on appearance orientation also engaged in greater upward social comparison to muscular-ideal images which, in turn, predicted changes in body satisfaction. Taken together, the findings provide consistent evidence for a role for media images in men's body image.