This research assessed the extent to which sociocultural factors implicated in explanations of weight dissatisfaction among young Western females extend to sources of body image concern in emerging adult and adolescent males from the People's Republic of China. In Study 1, 219 Mainland Chinese male university students completed measures of stature concern, fatness concern, sociocultural influence (i.e., appearance-based social pressure, teasing, and comparison), and demographics. Social pressure and teasing made unique contributions to fatness concern among participants. Physical stature concerns were also predicted by social pressure and comparison, independent of reported height and fatness concerns. In Study 2, findings were largely replicated in late adolescent (n = 299) and early adolescent (n = 265) boys. Together, findings supported the hypothesis that appearance pressure, teasing, and comparison may be salient influences on a range of body image concerns within diverse adolescent and young adult samples.
Agliata, D., & Tantleff-Dunn, T. (2004). The impact of media exposure on males' body image. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology , 23, 7-22.
2.
Arbour, K.P., & Ginis, K. (2006). Effects of exposure to muscular and hyper-muscular media images on young men's muscularity dissatisfaction and body dissatisfaction . Body Image, 3, 153-161.
3.
Attie, I., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1989). Development of eating problems in adolescent girls: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology , 25, 70-79.
4.
Bell, A.C., Ge, K., & Popkin, B.M. (2001). Weight gain and its predictors in Chinese adults . International Journal of Obesity, 25, 1079-1087.
5.
Bukowski, W., Sippola, L., & Newcomb, A. (2000). Variations in patterns of attraction to same-and other-sex peers during early adolescence. Developmental Psychology , 36, 147-154.
6.
Cattarin, J.A., & Thompson, J.K. (1994). A three-year longitudinal study of body image, eating disturbance, and general psychological functioning in adolescent females. Eating Disorders, 2, 114-125.
7.
Chen, H., Gao, X., & Jackson, T. (2007). Predictive models for understanding body dissatisfaction among young males and females in China. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 45, 1345-1356.
8.
Chen, H., Jackson, T., & Huang, X. (2006). Initial development and validation of the Negative Physical Self Scale among Chinese adolescents and young adults. Body Image, 3, 401-412.
9.
Davison, T.E., & McCabe, M.P. (2005). Relationships between men's and women's body image and their psychological, social, and sexual functioning . Sex Roles, 52, 463-475.
10.
Du, S., Mroz, T., Zhai, F., & Popkin, B. (2004). Rapid income growth adversely affects diet quality in China—Particularly for the poor!Social Science & Medicine, 59, 1505-1516.
11.
Elkind, D. (1978). Understanding the young adolescent. Adolescence, 13, 127-134.
12.
Falkner, N.H., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., Jeffery, R.W., Beuhring, T., & Resnick, M.D. (2001). Social, educational, and psychological correlates of weight status in adolescents. Obesity Research, 9, 32-42.
13.
Freedman, D.G. (1979). Human sociobiology. New York : Free Press.
14.
Gortmaker, S.L., Must, A., Perrin, J.M., Sobol, A.M., & Dietz, W.H. (1993). Social and economic consequences of overweight in adolescence and young adulthood. New England Journal of Medicine, 329, 1008-1012.
15.
Hanna, N.A. (1998). Predictors of friendship quality and peer group acceptance at summer camp. Journal of Early Adolescence, 18, 291-318.
16.
Hui, H., & Triandis, H.C. (1986). Individualism-collectivism: A study of cross-cultural researchers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 17, 225-248.
17.
Jackson, T., & Chen, H. (2007). Identifying the eating disorder symptomatic in China: The role of sociocultural factors and culturally-defined appearance concerns. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 62, 241-249.
18.
Jones, D.C. (2001). Social comparison and body image: Attractiveness comparisons to models and peers among adolescent girls and boys. Sex Roles, 45, 645-664.
19.
Jones, D.C. (2004). Body image among adolescent girls and boys: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 40, 823-835.
20.
Jones, D.C., & Crawford, J.K. (2005). The peer appearance culture during adolescence: Gender and body mass variations. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 257-269.
21.
Jones, D.C., Vigfusdottir, T.H., & Lee, Y. (2004). Body image and the appearance culture among adolescent girls and boys. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 323-339.
22.
Judge, T.A., & Cable, D.M. (2004). The effect of physical height on workplace success and income: Preliminary test of a theoretical model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 428-441.
23.
Kahn, J. (2004, January 4). Chinese People's Republic is unfair to its short people. The New York Times, p. 13.
24.
Kallen, D.J., & Doughty, A. (1984). The relationship of weight, the self perception of weight and self-esteem with courtship behavior. Marriage & Family Review, 7, 93-114.
25.
Krones, P.G., Stice, E., Batres, C., & Orjada, K. (2005). In vivo social comparison to a thin-ideal peer promotes body dissatisfaction: A randomized experiment. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 38, 134-142.
26.
Lee, A.M., & Lee, S. (1996). Disordered eating and its correlates among Chinese adolescent females in Hong Kong. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 20, 177-183.
27.
Lee, S., Leung, T., Lee, A.M., Yu, H., & Leung, C.M. (1996). Body dissatisfaction among Chinese undergraduates and its implications for eating disorders in Hong Kong. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 20, 77-84.
28.
Leit, R., Gray, J., & Pope, H. (2002). The media's representation of the ideal male body: A cause for muscle dysmorphia? International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 334-338.
29.
Leung, F., Lam, S., & Size, S. (2001). Cultural expectations of thinness in Chinese women . Eating Disorders, 9, 339-350.
30.
Li, Y.P., Hu, X.Q., Ma, W.J., Wu, J., & Ma, G. (2005). Body image perception among Chinese children and adolescents. Body Image, 2, 91-103.
31.
Lynn, M., & Shurgot, B.A. (1984). Responses to lonely hearts advertisements: Effects of reported physical attractiveness, physique, and coloration. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 349-357.
32.
McCabe, M.P., & Ricciardelli, L.A. (2001). Body image and body change techniques among young adolescent boys. European Eating Disorders Review, 9, 335-347.
33.
Mueller, U., & Mazur, A. (2001). Evidence of unconstrained directional selection for male tallness. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 50, 302-311.
34.
Nettle, D. (2002). Height and reproductive success in a cohort ofBritish men. Human Nature, 13, 473-491.
35.
Pawlowski, B. (2003). Variable preference for sexual dimorphism in height as a strategy for increasing the pool of potential partners in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 270, 709-712.
36.
Pawlowski, B., Dunbar, R.I.M., & Lipowicz, A. (2000). Tall men have more reproductive success. Nature, 403, 156.
37.
Pawlowski, B., & Koziel, S. (2002). The impact of traits offered in personal advertisements on response rates. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 139-149.
38.
Paxton, S., Eisenberg, M., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2006). Prospective predictors of body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls and boys: A five-year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 42, 888-899.
39.
Raudenbush, B., & Zellner, D. (1997). Nobody's satisfied: Effects of abnormal eating behaviors and actual and perceived weight status on body image satisfaction in males and females. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology , 16, 95-110.
40.
Ricciardelli, L.A., McCabe, M.P., Williams, R.J., & Thompson, J.K. (2007). The role of ethnicity and culture in body image and disordered eating among males. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 582-606.
41.
Rosenblum, G.D., & Lewis, M. (1999). The relations among body image, physical attractiveness, and body mass in adolescence. Child Development, 70, 50-64.
42.
Sabiston, C.M., Sedgwick, W.A., Crocker, P., Kowalski, K.C., & Mack, D.E. (2007). Social physique anxiety in adolescence: An exploration of influences, coping strategies, and health behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Research, 22, 78-101.
43.
Schutz, H.K., Paxton, S.J., & Wertheim, E.H. (2002). Investigation of body comparison among adolescent girls. Journal of Applied Social Psychology , 32, 1906-1937.
44.
Schwartz, D.J., Phares, V., Tantleff-Dunn, S., & Thompson, J.K. (1999). Body image, psychological functioning, and parental feedback regarding physical appearance. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 25, 339-343.
45.
Sheppard, J.A., & Strathman, A.J. (1989). Attractiveness and height: The role of stature in dating preference, frequency of dating, and perceptions of attractiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 15, 617-627.
46.
Smart, A. (1999). Expressions of interest: Friendship and guanxi in Chinese societies. In S. Bell & S. Coleman (Eds.), The anthropology of friendship (pp. 119-136). New York: Berg .
47.
Smolak, L., & Stein, J.A. (2006). The relationship of drive for muscularity to sociocultural factors, self-esteem, physical attributes, gender role, and social comparison in middle school boys. Body Image, 3, 121-129.
48.
Stice, E., & Agras, W.S. (1998). Predicting onset and cessation of bulimic behaviors during adolescence: A longitudinal grouping analysis. Behavior Therapy, 29, 257-276.
49.
Thompson, J.K., Cattarin, J., Fowler, H., & Fisher, E. (1995). The Perception of Teasing Scale (POTS): A revision and extension of the Physical Appearance Related Teasing Scale (PARTS). Journal of Personality Assessment, 65, 146-157.
50.
Thompson, J.K., Heinberg, L.J., & Tantleff, S. (1991). The physical appearance comparison scale (PACS) . The Behavior Therapist, 14, 174.
51.
Thompson, J.K., & Stice, E. (2001). Thin-ideal internalization: Mounting evidence for a new risk factor for body-image disturbance and eating pathology. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 181-183.
52.
Wade, J., Fuller, L., Bresnan, J., Schaefer, S., & Mlynarski, L. (2007). Weight halo effects: Individual differences in personality evaluations and perceived life success of men as a function of weight? Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 317-324.
53.
Wang, Y., Monteiro, C., & Popkin, B.M. (2002). Trends of obesity and underweight in older children and adolescents in the United States, Brazil, China, and Russia. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 75, 971-977.
54.
Watts, J. (2004). China's cosmetic surgery craze. Lancet, 363, 958.
55.
Xie, B., Chou, C.P., Spruijt-Metz, D., Reynolds, K.Clark, F., Palmer, P.H., et al. (2006). Weight perception and weight-related sociocultural and behavioral factors in Chinese adolescents. Preventive Medicine, 42, 229-234.
56.
Yang, C., Gray, P., & Pope, H.G. (2005). Male body image in Taiwan versus the West: Yanggang Zhiqi meets the Adonis complex. American Journal of Psychiatry , 162, 263-269.
