Recognition accuracy, stereotypic preference, aversion, and subjective judgment of body appearance in adolescents and young adults

Accuracy of body image, stereotypic preference, and aversion to body types were investigated in two studies. Using line drawings of 19 somatotypes in three orientations, 160 subjects in four age groups selected preferred, least preferred, and self-estimates of their own body types. Five independent ratings were made by judges of the subjects' body type. Females underestimated and males tended to overestimate their body dimensions. Both sexes overwhelmingly chose the endomorph as the least preferred somatotype. The consensus among females was to prefer slim figures and among males to prefer a medium muscular physique. In the second study three aspects of body image were studied by adjusting one's image on a television monitor that displayed a whole continuum of self-images from ectomorphy to endomorphy. Subjective body images were found to lie between the objective somatotype and the ideal.