Relations among Physical Attractiveness, Body Attitudes, and Self-Concept in Male and Female College Students

Summary

One hundred eighteen male and 190 female college students rated 24 body characteristics in terms of (a) how satisfied they were with each of these characteristics of their own body; (b) how important each part was in determining their own physical attractiveness; and (c) how important each part was in determining opposite-sex physical attractiveness. In addition, all subjects responded to a short self-concept scale. Results indicated that (a) males and females rated the importance of the body characteristics for both their own and opposite-sex physical attractiveness in a markedly similar manner; (b) mean satisfaction ratings were significantly related to self-concept among both males and females, and different body parts were differentially significantly related to self-concept; (c) weighting satisfaction ratings by corresponding importance ratings did not increase the satisfaction/self-concept relation; but (d) males' mean importance of opposite-sex body characteristics ratings were significantly related to self-concept, while the corresponding relation was not significant for females; and (e) subjects' physique type was not related to self-concept. The role of sex-linked body stereotypes and the differential role of the body in the personality development of males and females were discussed.