Sociocultural Influences, Drive for Thinness, Drive for Muscularity, and Body Dissatisfaction among Korean Undergraduates.

Sukkyung You,Kyulee Shin

doi:10.3390/ijerph17145260

Abstract

For many years, body dissatisfaction was considered a western phenomenon, and was studied mostly in Caucasian women. Recent studies, however, suggest that these issues are also present in men and in other ethnic groups. This research investigated the differential effects of various sociocultural pressures transmitted from the media, one’s parents, and one’s peers on the drives for thinness and muscularity, and body dissatisfaction among 1125 Korean college students (56% male) using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that, after controlling for body mass index and exercise, media pressures exerted the largest effects on participants’ body ideals and, in turn, body dissatisfaction across both genders (β = 0.44, and 0.30, p < 0.05, for females and males, respectively). This study’s results also indicate that there are considerable gender differences in this relationship. Specifically, the results show that parental and media pressure had significant indirect relationships with body dissatisfaction via the drive for thinness among females, while peer and media pressures had significant indirect relationships with body dissatisfaction via the drive for muscularity among males. As body dissatisfaction is known to significantly affect an individual’s mental and physical health, future research needs to identify relevant influential factors in this area, as well as the paths they have leading to increased body dissatisfaction.

Highlights

Body dissatisfaction has primarily been studied among females under the assumption that men were unlikely to suffer from serious problems in this regard
As body dissatisfaction is known to significantly affect an individual’s mental and physical health, future research needs to identify relevant influential factors in this area, as well as the paths they have leading to increased body dissatisfaction
Given ethnicity’s significant role in the relationship between sociocultural pressures, drive for body ideals, and body dissatisfaction, this study investigated the relationships between these factors using a sample of Korean college students to provide a culturally appropriate framework to understand them

Summary

Introduction

Body dissatisfaction has primarily been studied among females under the assumption that men were unlikely to suffer from serious problems in this regard. Recent studies suggest that it is a problem for males, with male body concerns differing from female ones [1,2,3]. Females tend to desire thinner bodies, while males tend to desire more muscular physiques. Recent evidence suggests that current Western body ideals are shifting toward toned, thin physiques for women and lean, muscular ones for men [4]. The main goal of this study is to examine the effects of sociocultural pressures on both drives for thinness and muscularity, and body dissatisfaction among both genders

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion