Body image and the role of romantic relationships

Figures & data

Table 1. Means and standard deviations of all study constructs investigated, by sex and relationship status (N = 928)

	Single		Non-Cohabiters		Cohabiters		Married
	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Men	n = 176		n = 47		n = 42		n = 158
Body image variables
Self-evaluative investment	2.80	0.68	2.85	0.64	3.02	0.73	2.72	0.71
Motivational investment	3.14	0.69	3.37	0.62	3.35	0.76	3.20	0.72
Overweight preoccupation	2.29	0.86	2.37	0.92	2.38	0.81	2.33	0.87
Appearance evaluation	3.24	0.77	3.50	0.73	3.41	0.79	3.28	0.70
Relationship variables
Relationship length	—	—	3.86	4.20	8.31	8.19	20.08	11.97
Relationship satisfaction	—	—	3.96	0.71	4.14	0.83	4.14	0.79
Intimacy	—	—	5.62	1.02	5.69	1.34	5.74	1.23
Commitment	—	—	5.21	0.94	5.35	0.96	5.49	0.87
Passion	—	—	5.49	1.09	5.49	1.57	5.26	1.43
Women	n = 137		n = 52		n = 85		n = 231
Body image variables
Self-evaluative investment	2.94	0.76	3.05	0.82	3.25	0.77	3.09	0.72
Motivational investment	3.29	0.79	3.75	0.78	3.51	0.75	3.57	0.76
Overweight preoccupation	2.65	0.88	2.84	0.87	2.88	1.01	2.78	0.91
Appearance evaluation	2.91	0.80	3.42	0.72	3.11	0.85	3.08	0.86
Relationship variables
Relationship length	—	—	4.60	5.99	7.30	7.14	18.66	11.70
Relationship satisfaction	—	—	4.20	0.80	4.00	0.87	4.17	0.88
Intimacy	—	—	5.85	1.47	5.54	1.39	5.81	1.48
Commitment	—	—	5.30	1.23	5.29	1.07	5.57	0.98
Passion	—	—	5.77	1.43	5.10	1.65	5.17	1.65

Table 2. Correlations among age, BMI, and body image subscales (N = 928)

	1	2	3	4	5	6
	Men (n = 423)
1. Age	1.00	0.13**	−0.26***	−0.06	−0.13**	−0.08
2. BMI		1.00	0.00	−0.10*	0.27***	−0.25***
3. Self-evaluative investment			1.00	0.51***	0.58***	−0.16***
4. Motivational investment				1.00	0.27***	0.31***
5. Overweight preoccupation					1.00	−0.26***
6. Appearance evaluation						1.00
	Women (n = 505)
1. Age	1.00	0.12**	−0.28***	−0.08	−0.10*	0.01
2. BMI		1.00	0.00	−0.09*	0.19***	−0.34***
3. Self-evaluative investment			1.00	0.49***	0.55***	−0.33***
4. Motivational investment				1.00	0.35***	0.19***
5. Overweight preoccupation					1.00	−0.30***
6. Appearance evaluation						1.00

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Table 3. Multiple linear regression analyses with romantic relationship status predicting body image components, controlling for age, and BMI (N = 928)

	Self-evaluative investment			Motivational investment			Overweight preoccupation			Appearance evaluation
	β	t	Sig.	β	t	Sig.	β	t	Sig.	β	t	Sig.
Men (n = 423)
Step 1
Age	−0.27	−5.59	.000	−0.05	−1.05	.293	−0.17	−3.66	.000	−0.05	−1.08	.283
BMI	0.04	0.79	.430	−0.09	−1.87	.063	0.29	6.19	.000	−0.24	−5.01	.000
Step 2
Age	−0.25	−5.20	.000	−0.05	−0.89	.372	−0.18	−3.65	.000	−0.04	−0.89	.376
BMI	0.04	0.77	.444	−0.10	−2.12	.035	0.29	6.10	.000	−0.25	−5.28	.000
Non-cohabiters	0.01	0.10	.920	0.11	2.12	.034	0.00	−0.08	.935	0.13	2.56	.011
Cohabiters	0.08	1.59	.112	0.09	1.79	.074	0.01	0.15	.878	0.08	1.51	.132
Married	−0.01	−0.21	.833	0.07	1.23	.219	0.02	0.46	.649	0.06	1.18	.241
	F (5, 417) = 6.85*** R^2 = .08; ΔR^2 = .01			F (5, 417) = 2.34* R^2 = .03; ΔR^2 = .02			F (5, 417) = 9.30*** R^2 = .10; ΔR^2 = .00			F (5, 417) = 7.21*** R^2 = .08; ΔR^2 = .02
Women (n = 505)
Step 1
Age	−0.29	−6.68	.000	−0.07	−1.55	.121	−0.12	−2.80	.005	0.05	1.17	.244
BMI	0.03	0.75	.456	−0.08	−1.83	.068	0.20	4.57	.000	−0.34	−8.08	.000
Step 2
Age	−0.28	−6.44	.000	−0.08	−1.67	.096	−0.12	−2.65	.008	0.06	1.33	.186
BMI	0.03	0.77	.441	−0.08	−1.70	.090	0.20	4.60	.000	−0.34	−8.08	.000
Non-cohabiters	0.04	0.89	.376	0.17	3.56	.000	0.07	1.40	.163	0.17	3.74	.000
Cohabiters	0.10	1.97	.050	0.09	1.78	.076	0.07	1.46	.146	0.10	1.95	.052
Married	0.11	2.19	.029	0.18	3.34	.001	0.08	1.57	.118	0.09	1.73	.085
	F (5, 499) = 10.18*** R^2 = .09; ΔR^2 = .01			F (5, 499) = 4.73*** R^2 = .05; ΔR^2 = .03			F (5, 499) = 5.92*** R^2 = .06; ΔR^2 = .01			F (5, 499) = 16.30*** R^2 = .14; ΔR^2 = .03

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Table 4. Multiple linear regression analyses with romantic functioning variables predicting body image components, while controlling for age and BMI (N = 928)

	Self-evaluative investment			Motivational investment			Overweight preoccupation			Appearance evaluation
	β	t	Sig.	β	t	Sig.	β	t	Sig.	β	t	Sig.
Men (n = 247)
Step 1
Age	−0.32	−5.16	.000	−0.09	−1.40	.163	−0.22	−3.57	.000	−0.02	−0.36	.722
BMI	0.00	0.05	.962	−0.11	−1.67	.096	0.23	3.66	.000	−0.29	−4.66	.000
Step 2
Age	−0.24	−3.26	.001	0.03	0.39	.697	−0.19	−2.56	.011	0.14	1.89	.060
BMI	0.02	0.35	.729	−0.07	−1.11	.269	0.27	4.30	.000	−0.26	−4.23	.000
Relationship length	−0.07	−0.93	.354	−0.15	−1.89	.060	0.04	0.53	.596	−0.18	−2.48	.014
Relationship satisfaction	−0.41	−3.93	.000	−0.10	−0.93	.354	−0.44	−4.24	.000	0.09	0.84	.404
Intimacy	0.15	1.15	.253	−0.16	−1.12	.266	−0.04	−0.31	.757	−0.14	−1.06	.292
Commitment	−0.06	−0.51	.610	0.12	1.00	.319	0.10	0.92	.358	0.01	0.07	.941
Passion	0.16	1.30	.195	0.24	1.83	.069	0.28	2.35	.020	0.34	2.88	.004
	F (7, 229) = 6.87*** R^2 = .17; ΔR^2 = .07			F (7, 229) = 2.23* R^2 = .06; ΔR^2 = .04			F (7, 229) = 6.61*** R^2 = .17; ΔR^2 = .08			F (7, 229) = 8.46*** R^2 = .21; ΔR^2 = .12
Women (n = 368)
Step 1
Age	−0.27	−5.16	.000	−0.08	−1.43	.155	−0.18	−3.49	.001	0.02	0.37	.713
BMI	0.04	0.70	.487	−0.13	−2.54	.011	0.22	4.20	.000	−0.38	−7.61	.000
Step 2
Age	−0.31	−4.63	.000	−0.10	−1.41	.159	−0.18	−2.74	.006	0.14	2.24	.026
BMI	0.03	0.53	.598	−0.13*	−2.42	.016	0.21	4.04	.000	−0.35	−7.42	.000
Relationship length	0.07	1.07	.286	0.06	0.84	.401	0.01	0.11	.915	−0.16	−2.54	.012
Relationship satisfaction	−0.07	−0.64	.520	−0.02	−0.15	.881	−0.07	−0.66	.509	−0.10	−1.02	.311
Intimacy	−0.19	−1.57	.117	−0.06	−0.46	.644	−0.18	−1.48	.139	0.23	1.99	.048
Commitment	0.17	1.65	.100	−0.02	−0.23	.820	0.14	1.40	.162	−0.19	−2.03	.043
Passion	0.04	0.37	.712	0.17	1.62	.106	0.02	0.17	.862	0.29	3.05	.002
	F (7, 349) = 4.69*** R^2 = .09; ΔR^2 = .02			F (7, 349) = 1.92 R^2 = .04; ΔR^2 = .01			F (7, 349) = 4.86*** R^2 = .09; ΔR^2 = .02			F (7, 349) = 15.46*** R^2 = .24; ΔR^2 = .10

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001