Psychology of Consumer Behavior

Psychology of Consumer Behavior The research into how young women perceive their own bodies -- in response to constant exposure to media images of un-naturally thin and extraordinarily beautiful females -- has been a popular topic for many years. But when it comes to male models that are nearly perfect, handsome and muscular in exactly the right places, there has not been as much attention or research. This paper reviews the potential of -- and reality of -- dissatisfaction in males based on the media's model images of males.

Body Image for Males -- Background Annette La Greca is Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami and Gerald Koocher is the Dean of the School for Health Studies at Simmons College.

As co-authors of The Parents' Guide to Psychological First Aid: Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Predictable Life Crises they assert that the research for body dissatisfaction among youth has "focuses more on girls." But boys are often dissatisfied with their body shape too, and this leads to "…feelings of inferiority or low self-esteem" (Koocher, et al., 2010, p. 317).

The estimates Koocher and colleague use are stunning: 60% of girls and 30% of boys "…report wanting to change their body size or shape" -- and one quarter of the girls in recent studies report that they have "…significant body dissatisfaction" (317).

In order to take weight off and achieve that more perfect body that adolescents see on television, in magazines, online and in the movies, Koocher writes that "…an estimated 12% of girls and 5% of boys report using extreme weight-loss strategies" that may include dangerous diet pills, fasting, forced vomiting or even laxative "abuse" (317).

It isn't just images in the media that has an affect on adolescents -- vis-a-vis their concern about their bodies not being perfect enough -- according to the authors; it can be parents, coaches in sports programs, ballet instructors and others (318). The impressions that adolescent boys and girls receive from coaches and the media is that individuals who "…fit the narrow standards of beauty created by society are viewed as being more competent, more attractive, and better adjusted" (Koocher, 318).

The desire among boys for that "…muscular-ideal male body" seems to begin to manifest itself when boys are only 6 or 7 years old, Koocher continues (318). In addition, when boys' self-esteem is low they are at higher risk for "…endorsing the muscular-ideal and to pursue it through attempts to increase muscle mass"; also, boys who are overweight and feel the social pressure to look like a famous actor or athlete, go to great ends to lose weight (Koocher, 318).

Meanwhile a research piece in the peer-reviewed Journal of School Health reports that adolescent males are more likely to be injured (intentionally and unintentionally), or become involved in physical confrontations, or even successfully complete a suicide attempt, the females. And body image dissatisfaction (BID) has been linked "…as a possible contributing factor to these negative health behaviors and risks" (Leone, et al., 2011, p. 174). Echoing what the previous authors reported (Koocher, et al.) Leone explains that the research on youthful females has gone much deeper than the research on adolescent males.

That having been said, Leone and colleges conducted a cross-sectional sample analysis of 330 adolescent males; the participants (grades 9 through 12) answered questions relating to body image. Some 62.2% of the respondents (90% Caucasian; 10% African-American) expressed a desire "…for body perfection" and just over 60% indicated they were unhappy with their present bodies (Leone, 177). Several scenarios were seen by the authors as likely to contribute to body image dissatisfaction for boys in their adolescent years, Leone writes on page 179. For one, those boys that are overweight and have negative self-images were likely to become bullies.

Victims of bullying were more likely to be "less overweight" (Leone, 179). When an adolescent has very few friends, that situation can lead to body image dissatisfaction, and indeed "…adolescent alienation…has been shown to correlate to negative health practices, such as drug use and lack of social participation in peer-based activities" (Leone, 179). Leone quotes from research conducted by Cash and Pruzinsky: "…body image and social functioning are intertwined -- conceptually, empirically, and experientially" (179).

The findings that Leone and colleagues report include the fact that criticism from siblings has the "strongest relationship" to body image dissatisfaction; in other words, coaches and parents can be critical of a boy's body weight and shape, but when one's sisters or brothers get on him about his body, it hurts the most (179). Assistant Psychology Professor David H.

Gleaves and his colleague, author Dana Cassell, explain that numerous studies to date point to "mass media…images of stick-thin models" exert influence over the number of eating disorders among adolescents (Gleaves, et al., 2009, p. 197). The research this team came up with showed that one out of every 3.8 commercials on television "…send some sort of 'attractive message' telling viewer what is or is not attractive" (198).

Indeed, the average male adolescent sees more than 5,260 "attractiveness messages per year." Moreover, the National Eating Disorders Association found in its study of articles in adolescent magazines over the course of twenty years -- relating to fitness or exercise plans -- that 74% (of those articles) cited 'to become more attractive' as a reason to start exercising, and 51% discussed the need to "lose weight or burn calories" (Gleaves, 198).

The truth is -- it cannot come as a surprise that modern adolescents are obsessed with being thin and being attractive because they have been exposed to "…extreme thinness as a standard of attractiveness for their entire lives" (Gleaves, 198). The authors mention another survey of over 500 females in grades 5 through 12; in that research "…69% of the girls reported magazine pictures influenced their idea of the perfect body shape, and 47% reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures" (Gleaves, 198).

Meanwhile Professor Sarah Grogan (Health Psychology, Staffordshire University) references recent British focus group studies with males 16 to 17 years of age. The ideal build for these young men was seen as "…muscular and relatively slender… [and] the desire to be big and muscular was clearly distinguished from a fear of being big and fat" (Grogan, 2007, p. 81). Grogan explains that all the 16 and 17-year-olds in the study.