Physical correlates of college students’ body image satisfaction levels

Whether or not the association between physical characteristics and body image satisfaction varies by gender was investigated. The sample included 148 male and 104 female college students aged 19-27 years. To assess body image satisfaction, the Body Image Satisfaction Questionnaire (Berscheid, Walster, & Bohrnstedt, 1973) was used. Body fat, waist to hip,chest to shoulder ratio, weight, and height were measured. The results indicate that males had significantly greater body image satisfaction than did females. There was a small but significant correlation between physical characteristics and body image satisfaction for females but not for males. The regression model, consisting of bodily measures, predicted a significant variance in female body image satisfaction. The same model failed to explain male body image satisfaction.