Body Image Dissatisfaction among Men Engaged in Regular Weight Training Activities: An exploratory analysis

Abstract

The central purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the body image dissatisfaction experiences of a group of young adult men who were engaged in regular recreational weight training activities. Within this, three primary areas of enquiry were investigated through the completion of twelve semi-structured interviews with men aged between eighteen and thirty who were residing in the city of Hamilton, New Zealand. The first area of investigation focused on gaining a broad appreciation of participants’ body image dissatisfaction experiences. While participants’ reports indicated that for the majority, the experience of dissatisfaction did not have a significantly detrimental effect on their well-being, behavioural indications highlighted a tendency for men to downplay the actual impact of these types of experiences. The second area of enquiry focused on investigating participants’ beliefs about specific factors which they thought were influencing their own and others’ body image dissatisfaction experiences. Reports tended to suggest that media, particularly advertising, entertainment and Internet-based media, as well as peer, family and opposite sex influences were most central to the development and maintenance of dissatisfaction experiences. Coupled with these influences, social comparison and internalisation processes also appeared to act as important mediating processes for participants’ body image dissatisfaction experiences. When considered in their entirety this combination of influences lent support to the sociocultural model as a framework for explaining the development and maintenance of body image dissatisfaction among participants. The third and final area of enquiry was aimed at gaining an understanding of the relationship between weight training and participants’ body image dissatisfaction experiences. While results indicated the existence of a positive relationship between regular recreational weight training engagement, body image satisfaction, and other aspects of well-being, engagement also appeared to have an effect in the opposite direction, influencing the quality of body evaluation in a manner which appeared to also increase the likelihood of experiences of body image dissatisfaction among participants.