Embodiment: Cultural and gender differences and associations with life satisfaction

Abstract

Although cultural factors have an important impact on individuals’ experiences of living in their bodies, to date no studies have examined cross-cultural or gender differences in individuals’ experience of embodiment. This study compared Swedish and Canadian women’s experience of embodiment (and other body image related constructs), as well as Swedish men and women’s experience of embodiment. Associations between embodiment, body esteem, and life satisfaction in men and women were also examined. Participants were 302 Swedish women, 242 Swedish men, and 216 Canadian women. Results showed that Swedish women had overall more positive experience of embodiment, more positive body esteem, lower thin-ideal internalization and lower levels of disordered eating than Canadian women. In comparison to Swedish men, however, Swedish women had more negative experience of embodiment in some ways, but similar experience of embodiment in other ways. Although associations between embodiment, body esteem, and life satisfaction were strong, embodiment was a better predictor of life satisfaction than body esteem for both men and women. Results are interpreted through the lens of the developmental theory of embodiment and consider cultural differences between Sweden and Canada, as well as Swedish society’s both progress and problems in promoting gender equity.