Abstract
Body dissatisfaction can be significantly detrimental to wellbeing. Little is known about older adults' body image, despite the fact that ageing causes unique bodily changes and that sociocultural pressures to resist these changes abound. We conducted six focus groups with a UK community sample of White British and South Asian older adults aged 65-92 years. Thematic analysis highlighted four themes: appearance indicates capability and identity; physical ability trumps appearance; felt pressures to age 'gracefully' while resisting appearance changes; and gender and cultural differences. These findings suggest that older adults' body image can have important implications for their wellbeing and merits researchers' attention.
Highlights
Men’s body dissatisfaction is prevalent and a serious health concern as it is associated with negative outcomes including depression, disordered eating, and anabolic steroid abuse
The current study explored whether differences in the frequency of engaging in appearance conversations accounted for differences in body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors among gay and heterosexual men
These findings suggest that appearance conversations are an important sociocultural influence on male body image and that they are important in understanding the differences between gay and heterosexual men’s body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors
Summary
Men’s body dissatisfaction is prevalent and a serious health concern as it is associated with negative outcomes including depression, disordered eating, and anabolic steroid abuse. The current study explored whether differences in the frequency of engaging in appearance conversations accounted for differences in body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors among gay and heterosexual men. Gay men reported more frequent engagement in positive and negative appearance conversations and greater body dissatisfaction, appearance orientation, and general internalization than heterosexual men. In this study we aimed to explore the prevalence of appearance conversations among gay and heterosexual men, and whether differences between body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors among gay and heterosexual men can be explained by differences in their appearance conversations engagement
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