The Attractive female body weight and female body dissatisfaction in 26 countries across 10 world regions: results of the International Body Project I

Viren Swami, David A. Frederick, Toivo Aavik, Lidia Alcalay, Jüri Allik, Donna Anderson, Sonny Andrianto, Arvind Arora, Åke Brännström, John Cunningham, Dariusz Danel, Krystyna Doroszewicz, Gordon B. Forbes, Adrian Furham, Corina U. Greven, Jamin Halberstadt, Shuang Hao, Tanja Haubner, Choon Sup Hwang, Mary InmanJas Laile Jaafar, Jacob Johansson, Jaehee Jung, Askin Keser, Uta Kretzschmar, Lance Lachenicht, Norman P. Li, Kenneth Locke, Jan-Erik Lönnqvist, Christy Lopez, Lynn Loutzenhiser, Natalya C. Maisel, Marita P. McCabe, Donald R. McCreary, William F. McKibbin, Alex Mussap, Félix Neto, Carly Nowell, Liane Peña Alampay, Subash K. Pillai, Alessandra Pokrajac-Bulian, René T. Proyer, Katinka Quintelier, Lina A. Ricciardelli, Malgorzata Rozmus-Wrzesinska, Willibald Ruch, Timothy Russo, Astrid Schütz, Todd K. Shackelford, Sheeba Shashidharan, Franco Simonetti, Dhachayani Sinniah, Mira Swami, Griet Vandermassen, Marijke van Duynslaeger, Markku Verkasalo, Martin Voracek, Curtis K. Yee, Echo Xian Zhang, Xiaoying Zhang, Ivanka Zivcic-Becirevic

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    493 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This study reports results from the first International Body Project (IBP-I), which surveyed 7,434 individuals in 10 major world regions about body weight ideals and body dissatisfaction. Participants completed the female Contour Drawing Figure Rating Scale (CDFRS) and self-reported their exposure to Western and local media. Results indicated there were significant cross-regional differences in the ideal female figure and body dissatisfaction, but effect sizes were small across high-socioeconomic-status (SES) sites. Within cultures, heavier bodies were preferred in low-SES sites compared to high-SES sites in Malaysia and South Africa (ds = 1.94-2.49) but not in Austria. Participant age, body mass index (BMI), and Western media exposure predicted body weight ideals. BMI and Western media exposure predicted body dissatisfaction among women. Our results show that body dissatisfaction and desire for thinness is commonplace in high-SES settings across world regions, highlighting the need for international attention to this problem.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)309-325
    Number of pages17
    JournalPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin
    Volume36
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2010

    Keywords

    • body weight
    • body dissatisfaction
    • cross-cultural
    • socioeconomic differences
    • attractiveness
    • International Body Project

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