Gender differences in weight‐related and non‐weight‐related appearance concerns in a community sample

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic information

	Men	Women
Age N, M (SD)	63, 23.81 yrs (5.14)	162, 26.03 yrs (6.21)
Country of origin
Australia	60 (93.8%)	144 (88.9%)
Other	4 (6.2%)	18 (11.1%)
Education level
Completed university	13 (20.3%)	65 (40.4%)
TAFE	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)
Certificate or Diploma	11 (17.2%)	23 (14.2%)
Year 12	30 (46.9%)	51 (31.5%)
<year 12	9 (14.1%)	21 (13.0%)
DASS severity (M, SD)
Stress	47/3.62/1.31	122/3.93/1.14
Anxiety	47/4.34/0.87	122/4.46/0.79
Depression	47/4.08/0.92	122/4.14/0.95

Scores for DASS are out of 5, 1 = normal, 2 = mild, 3 = moderate, 4 = severe, 5 = extremely severe. DASS = Depression, Anxiety Stress Scales; TAFE = technical and further education.

Table 2. Means and standard deviation scores for each item on the Body Esteem Scale

Items	Males n = 64		Females n = 162
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Nose	3.32	0.95	3.34	1.06
Lips	3.64	0.80	3.78	0.84
Waist	3.06	1.19	2.68	1.34
Thighs	3.21	1.05	2.25	1.14
Ears	3.51	0.95	3.48	0.91
Biceps	3.39	0.88	2.88	1.01
Chin	3.61	0.77	3.02	0.99
Body build	3.19	1.07	2.62	1.22
Buttocks	3.28	0.97	2.91	1.21
Shoulder width	3.86	0.94	3.22	1.04
Arms	3.70	0.97	2.76	1.06
Chest/breasts	3.16	1.06	3.24	1.24
Eyes	3.92	0.99	4.17	0.88
Cheeks/Cheekbones	3.61	0.81	3.59	1.00
Hips	3.30	0.90	2.83	1.11
Legs	3.51	1.00	2.65	1.21
Figure/Physique	3.19	1.00	2.69	1.24
Feet	3.23	1.02	2.95	1.08
Toes	3.06	1.10	2.87	1.03
Stomach	2.64	1.19	2.09	1.41
Health	3.21	1.07	3.11	1.14
Body hair	3.28	1.11	2.63	1.08
Hair	3.66	1.01	3.69	1.05
Face	3.39	0.95	3.32	1.03
Weight	3.19	1.22	2.54	1.30
Teeth	3.14	1.15	3.18	1.20
Tongue	3.48	0.76	3.34	0.84
Fingers	3.54	0.96	3.41	1.06
Males: Penis	3.75	1.02	–	–
Males: Scrotum	3.78	0.85	–	–
Females: Labia	–	–	3.14	0.84
Females: Clitoris	–	–	3.35	0.79
Females: Vagina	–	–	3.31	0.86
Hands	3.69	0.86	3.47	1.00
Back/Spine	3.43	1.00	3.15	1.04
Knees	3.25	0.78	2.88	0.98
Body symmetry	3.39	0.90	3.25	0.97
Elbow	3.40	0.83	3.23	0.80
Ankle	3.37	0.79	3.22	0.96

Scores are out of 5, 1 = have strong negative feelings to 5 = have strong positive feelings.

Table 3. Chi‐square analysis of gender and body esteem scores, indicating prevalence of very low satisfaction

Measure	Male		Female		x^2 (df)	p
	n	%	n	%
Nose	2	3.2	8	5.0	2.91 (4)	.583
Lips	0	0.0	1	0.6	10.00 (4)	.031
Waist	5	8.1	37	23.0	10.99 (4)	.027
Thighs	4	6.3	47	29.2	37.44 (4)	.001
Ears	2	3.2	4	2.5	0.56 (4)	.973
Biceps	0	0.0	14	18.7	14.44 (4)	.005
Chin	0	0.0	11	6.8	19.34 (4)	.001
Body build	3	4.7	36	22.2	14.39 (4)	.004
Buttocks	2	3.1	22	13.8	18.17 (4)	.001
Width of shoulders	1	1.6	7	4.3	18.56 (4)	.001
Arms	1	1.6	17	10.8	36.50 (4)	.001
Chest or breasts	3	4.7	18	11.5	10.11 (4)	.038
Eyes	0	0.0	2	1.2	13.40 (4)	.009
Cheeks/cheekbones	0	0.0	5	3.1	12.69 (4)	.011
Hips	1	1.6	19	12.1	19.76 (4)	.001
Legs	1	1.6	30	18.6	34.77 (4)	.001
Physique	1	1.6	28	17.3	18.76 (4)	.001
Feet	5	7.8	17	10.7	5.47 (4)	.242
Toes	9	14.1	15	9.4	11.94 (4)	.018
Stomach	12	18.8	62	38.3	11.85 (4)	.016
Hair	3	4.7	3	1.9	15.43 (4)	.003
Body hair	5	7.8	24	14.9	18.76 (4)	.001
Face	1	1.6	9	5.6	5.28 (4)	.264
Weight	4	6.3	42	25.9	16.73 (4)	.001
Teeth	5	7.9	15	9.4	1.49 (4)	.835
Tongue	0	0.0	3	1.9	3.77 (4)	.448
Fingers	1	1.6	6	3.8	2.91 (4)	.582
Males—Scrotum	3	4.7	–	–	–	–
Males—Penis	1	1.6	–	–	–	–
Female—Labia	–	–	7	4.4	–	–
Females—Clitoris	–	–	3	1.9	–	–
Female—Vagina	–	–	3	1.9	–	–
Hands	0	0.0	7	4.4	4.45 (4)	.359
Back/Spine	1	1.6	11	6.8	4.25 (4)	.313
Knees	0	0.0	12	7.5	10.79 (4)	.027
Body symmetry	0	0.0	7	4.4	3.62 (4)	.475
Elbow	1	1.6	5	3.1	2.12 (4)	.734
Ankle	1	1.6	9	5.6	3.64 (4)	.466

Bold data in the p significance column indicates a significant difference.

Table 4. Chi‐square analysis of high and low dysmorphic concern with appearance and body esteem scores, indicating prevalence of very low satisfaction for females

Body part	High dysmorphic concern		Low dysmorphic concern		x^2 (df)	p
	n	%	n	%
Nose	7	13.7	1	1.4	24.03 (8)	.002
Lips	1	2.0	0	0.0	8.99 (8)	.299
Waist	18	35.3	10	14.1	10.90 (8)	.202
Thighs	24	47.1	15	21.1	20.31 (8)	.011
Ears	3	5.9	0	0.0	8.92 (8)	.334
Biceps	7	13.7	4	5.6	5.75 (8)	.695
Chin	6	11.8	3	4.2	11.45 (8)	.175
Body build	20	39.2	9	12.5	16.52 (8)	.040
Buttocks	12	24.0	5	7.0	25.58 (8)	.002
Width of shoulders	4	7.8	1	1.4	10.98 (8)	.197
Arms	10	20.4	4	5.7	18.01 (8)	.022
Chest or breasts	11	22.4	2	2.9	14.22 (8)	.076
Eyes	2	4.0	0	0.0	7.48 (8)	.471
Cheeks/cheekbones	3	5.9	0	0.0	12.26 (8)	.138
Hips	13	26.0	3	4.3	19.01 (8)	.014
Legs	18	36.0	6	8.3	19.88 (8)	.012
Physique	16	31.4	7	9.7	18.90 (8)	.017
Feet	8	15.7	5	7.0	11.29 (8)	.187
Toes	10	19.6	4	5.6	13.45 (8)	.094
Stomach	28	54.9	18	25.0	18.52 (8)	.022
Hair	3	6.0	0	0.0	8.05 (8)	.443
Body hair	12	24.0	6	8.3	8.23 (8)	.415
Face	7	13.7	0	0.0	16.63 (8)	.036
Weight	23	45.1	8	11.1	28.52 (8)	.001
Teeth	11	22.0	2	2.9	13.93 (8)	.082
Tongue	0	0.0	0	0.0	10.65 (8)	.216
Fingers	4	11.8	16	22.2	22.48 (8)	.005
Female—Labia	5	10.2	2	2.8	13.93 (8)	.089
Females—Clitoris	3	5.9	0	0.0	15.93 (8)	.050
Female—Vagina	3	5.9	0	0.0	19.30 (8)	.021
Hands	5	10.0	1	1.4	20.20 (8)	.012
Back/Spine	7	13.7	1	1.4	14.75 (8)	.047
Knees	7	14.0	2	2.8	16.65 (8)	.036
Body symmetry	7	13.7	0	0.0	18.24 (8)	.022
Elbow	4	7.8	0	0.0	13.57 (8)	.096
Ankle	6	11.8	0	0.0	21.86 (8)	.009

Bold data in the p significance column indicates a significant difference.