Global Body and Muscle Satisfaction Among College Men in the United States and Hong Kong-China

Abstract

Body dissatisfaction was studied in college men from a central university in Hong Kong (n = 109) and a mid-Atlantic university in the U.S. (n = 114). Hong Kong men had lower global body satisfaction than U.S. men, but had greater satisfaction with muscularity, lower drive for muscularity, and associated fewer positive attributes with muscularity. A large majority of both Hong Kong and U.S. men were dissatisfied with their level of muscularity. Results for global body dissatisfaction were consistent with reports from studies indicating that East Asian women have lower body satisfaction than U.S. women. Results from the measures of muscularity were consistent with Louie’s (2002) description of the Chinese masculinity. Implications for sociocultural and feminist theory were discussed.