Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
Young men's minimisation of their body dissatisfaction
Glen S Jankowski1, Brendan Gough1, Helen Fawkner1
1a School of Social Sciences Leeds Beckett University , Portland Way , Leeds , UK.
Objective:
To examine men's body dissatisfaction qualitatively.
Design:
Forty-two British men aged 18-45 years took part in a two-session group intervention across 12 groups. The intervention was designed to improve body dissatisfaction by engaging them in a critique of the appearance ideal through written and behavioural exercises. Main outcome measures/results: Analysis of the topics discussed during the intervention generated two core themes. Theme 1 showed that, in general, men minimised the existence of their own body dissatisfaction while (somewhat surprisingly) outlining the ubiquity and potency of the appearance ideal for men in general. Theme 2 involved men reporting the problematic impact of body dissatisfaction in their lives (despite earlier minimisation), such as social avoidance, strict eating and supplement regimes, or difficulty in situations where the body was exposed.
Conclusion:
The results stress the need to acknowledge that men experience a range of impacts of body dissatisfaction beyond clinical presentations (such as disordered eating) that influence their everyday lives, while also recognising that they tend to minimise this dissatisfaction in conversation. These findings have important implications for advocacy and interventions to improve men's body dissatisfaction.
Related Concept Videos
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience
Sources of Self-Esteem III: Social Comparison

