Appearance pressures in relation to body image in South Asians living in the United States

The current study explored relationships between sources of appearance pressures-parents, peers, and aunties/extended family-and body image constructs in a sample of South Asian adults living in the U.S. Participants were 276 adults of South Asian descent living in the U.S. (M_age = 29.45 years) who completed an online survey assessing demographics, appearance pressures, and body image-related variables, including weight/shape concern, thin/low body fat internalization, and muscular/athletic internalization. Correlational and regression analyses were conducted separately for women and men. For both women and men, appearance pressures from parents, peers, and aunties/extended family were significantly positively correlated with all body image constructs. Correlations were generally similar in magnitude for women and men, except for the peer pressures-muscular/athletic internalization association, which was significantly stronger among men. Regression analyses revealed that, for women, all three sources of appearance pressures accounted for unique variance in weight/shape concern, while only pressures from parents and aunties explained unique variance in thin/low body fat internalization. No sources accounted for unique variance in muscular/athletic internalization for women. For men, only appearance pressures from peers accounted for unique variance in weight/shape concern and thin/low body fat internalization, whereas pressures from both peers and aunties/extended family accounted for unique variance in muscular/athletic internalization. Findings underscore the role of aunties/extended family and reveal gender-specific patterns in unique associations between appearance pressures and body image. These results highlight the need for culturally nuanced and gender-informed approaches to body image concerns in South Asian communities.