Abstract
Height dissatisfaction has recently been found to be an important contributor to body dissatisfaction in males, however, there is currently limited research examining this relationship in women. The present cross-sectional study aimed to examine the link between height and height dissatisfaction in Australian women, and the extent to which height and height dissatisfaction relate to body dissatisfaction and quality of life. Additionally, it explored the height preferences of oneself and romantic partners in Australian women. A final sample of 172 Australian women was recruited to complete an online survey relating to height preference, height dissatisfaction, muscularity, drive for thinness, and quality of life. Results showed that there was a significant difference between the reported actual height of participants and their ideal height. We also found that shorter women tended to be more dissatisfied with their height and were more likely to believe that they were treated poorly due to their height. Our study also identified that the vast majority (84%) preferred a romantic partner taller than them. Results were comparable to men aspiring to be taller than they were. Future studies should consider height dissatisfaction as a potential contributing factor to poor quality of life and negative affect.
Highlights
Body dissatisfaction is defined as a negative subjective evaluation of one’s own body.This negative evaluation is predominantly specific to an element of one’s body, such as weight, body shape, thinness, muscularity, or height, it can be generalized to the body as a whole [1]
The present study aimed to examine the link between height, height dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction-related constructs in Australian women
45% of participants wanted to be taller than their current height, 16% wanted to be shorter than their current height, and 39% of participants reported that their height was in line with their ideal height.In relation to H2, results showed that height and height dissatisfaction were negatively correlated, meaning that women who were shorter in stature tended to be more dissatisfied with their height
Summary
Body dissatisfaction is defined as a negative subjective evaluation of one’s own body.This negative evaluation is predominantly specific to an element of one’s body, such as weight, body shape, thinness, muscularity, or height, it can be generalized to the body as a whole [1]. Research supports that body dissatisfaction is often associated with a greater risk of eating disorder pathology, psychological distress, and poor quality of life [2,3,4]. Body ideals for both men and women are constantly evolving, and our understanding of the nature of body dissatisfaction needs to progress with it. Body fat and body weight were the traditional focus of body image research and treatment for women, with the belief of ‘not being thin enough’ considered the defining, and sometimes the sole attitude of body image-related psychopathology; emphasizing a greater drive for thinness in previous research [1]. Previous research on body image highlights how vital it is to understand how factors such as the drive for thinness, the drive for muscularity, or body dissatisfaction influence body image perceptions [5,6,7]
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