Body-image perceptions across sex and age groups

Weight dissatisfaction, body dissatisfaction, and body-image distortion measures were used with 98 fifth and eighth graders and 57 undergraduate students. Measures included the Piers-Harris Self-concept Scale and the Kids Eating Disorder Survey for the young children, the Interpersonal Behavior Survey, and a seven-item mistaken beliefs scale for the college sample. Body dissatisfaction and Body-image distortion were assessed with a figure-drawing procedure. Significant differences in both weight dissatisfaction and body dissatisfaction were found between males and females in the eighth grade and undergraduate groups. There were no significant sex differences in body-image distortion in the fifth or eighth grades, but significant differences in body-image distortion between men and women were found in the college sample. The direction of body-image distortion for both the 20 men and the 37 women was consistent with their ideal weight. In the college sample, there was a significant correlation between body-image dissatisfaction and self-confidence for the women but not for the men.