Personal ideal, cultural ideal and optimal attractiveness: Are these constructs for body size and shape the same or different?

There has been an assumption in the literature that the three concepts of ideal body shape (personal ideal, cultural ideal, and the most attractive body shape) are effectively the same percept. To test this presumption, 554 participants completed either a between- or within-subjects condition using a matrix of 32 bodies varying in two dimensions: muscle and adiposity. Three separate groups of participants were recruited to the between-subjects design and made only one of these judgements, whilst participants in the within-subjects version completed all three of these judgments. These bodies are based on 3D scans of 221 women's bodies and so accurately represent the change in size and shape caused by changing body composition. The participants also completed a set of psychometric questionnaires to index the degree to which external concepts of body image have been internalised. The results show that in both conditions, all three judgements collapse onto the same average preferred body shape, with low adiposity and relatively high muscularity. However, this masked systematic differences in responses between personal ideals and the other body judgements, which may be explained by a difference in how information directly related to oneself is processed relative to more abstract third person judgements.

Testing the validity of online psychophysical measurement of body image perception.

This body image study tests the viability of transferring a complex psychophysical paradigm from a controlled in-person laboratory task to an online environment. 172 female participants made online judgements about their own body size when viewing images of computer-generated female bodies presented in either in front-view or at 45-degrees in a method of adjustment (MOA) paradigm. The results of these judgements were then compared to the results of two laboratory-based studies (with 96 and 40 female participants respectively) to establish three key findings. Firstly, the results show that the accuracy of online and in-lab estimates of body size are comparable, secondly that the same patterns of visual biases in judgements are shown both in-lab and online, and thirdly online data shows the same view-orientation advantage in accuracy in body size judgements as the laboratory studies. Thus, this study suggests that that online sampling potentially represents a rapid and accurate way of collecting reliable complex behavioural and perceptual data from a more diverse range of participants than is normally sampled in laboratory-based studies. It also offers the potential for designing stratified sampling strategies to construct a truly representative sample of a target population.

Sample characteristics for quantitative analyses in Body Image: Issues of generalisability.

Psychological research frequently encounters criticism regarding the representativeness of the samples under study, highlighting concerns about the external validity of the obtained results. Here, we conducted a comprehensive survey of all the quantitative samples from the journal Body Image for 2021 (n = 149 samples). Our primary objective was to examine the extent to which the sampled populations deviated from the population at large, which could potentially compromise the generalizability of findings. We identified that a substantial number of these samples came from student populations (n = 44) and the majority were from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Only a small number of samples (n = 9) employed direct measurements of body mass index (BMI), while the majority relied on self-reported data (n = 93). For a subset of samples in the journal, which were drawn from the general population, we compared whether these differed from population reference values in terms of age and BMI. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we found that samples tended to be younger and score lower on BMI than reference values obtained from the broader population. Samples drawn from female university students also tended to be lower on BMI than age-matched reference samples. We discuss the implications of our findings and make recommendations on sampling and inference. We conclude that a clearer specification of the parameters or conditions under which findings are expected to generalise has the potential to enhance the overall rigor and validity of this field of research.

Adaptation and Validation of the MapMe Body Image Scales in Spanish Parents of Schoolchildren.

Childhood overweight and obesity is a worldwide problem and to treat it parents' detection has to be improved. The MapMe Body Image Scales (BIS) are a visual tool developed to improve parental perception of child weight in the United Kingdon (UK) based on British growth reference criteria. The aim of this study was to make a transcultural adaptation and validation of the MapMe BIS in Spain based on International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut offs A descriptive cross-sectional study was done. First, a translation and cultural adaptation was carried out. A total of 155 10-11-year-old children and their parents participated in this study. Children were measured to calculate their weight status, Body Mass Index (BMI), Body Fat Percentage (BFP) and Waist Circumference (WC), and their parents completed a purpose designed questionnaire about their perception and satisfaction of child's body weight status using the adapted BIS. Test-retest reliability, criterion validity and concurrent validity of the adapted BIS were analyzed. This study shows that the adapted MapMe BIS has good psychometric properties and is a suitable visual scale to assess parental perception of weight status in 10 and 11-year-old children in Spain.

A Randomised Control Trial Investigating the Efficacy of the MapMe Intervention on Parental Ability to Correctly Categorise Overweight in Their Child and the Impact on Child BMI Z-Score Change at 1 Year.

Research suggests parental ability to recognise when their child has overweight is limited. It is hypothesised that recognition of child overweight/obesity is fundamental to its prevention, acting as a potential barrier to parental action to improve their child's health-related behaviours and/or help seeking. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an intervention (MapMe) to improve parental ability to correctly categorise their child as having overweight one-month post-intervention, and reduce child body mass index (BMI) z-score 12 months post-intervention. MapMe consists of body image scales of known child BMI and information on the consequences of childhood overweight, associated health-related behaviours and sources of support. We conducted a three-arm (paper-based MapMe, web-based MapMe and control) randomised control trial in fifteen English local authority areas with parents/guardians of 4-5- and 10-11-year-old children. Parental categorisation of child weight status was assessed using the question 'How would you describe your child's weight at the moment?' Response options were: underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and very overweight. Child weight status and BMI z-scores were calculated using objectively measured height and weight data and UK90 clinical thresholds. There was no difference in the percentage of parents correctly categorising their child as having overweight/very overweight (n = 264: 41% control, 48% web-based, and 43% paper-based, p = 0.646). BMI z-scores were significantly reduced for the intervention group at 12 months post-intervention compared to controls (n = 338, mean difference in BMI z-score change -0.11 (95% CI -0.202 to -0.020, p = 0.017). MapMe was associated with a decrease in BMI z-score 12 months post-intervention, although there was no direct evidence of improved parental ability to correctly categorise child overweight status. Further work is needed to replicate these findings in a larger sample of children, investigate mechanisms of action, and determine the use of MapMe as a public health initiative.

Men's perception of current and ideal body composition and the influence of media internalization on body judgements.

Introduction: To determine men's body ideals and the factors that influence these choices, this study used a matrix of computer generated (CG) male bodies (based on an analysis of 3D scanned real bodies) which independently varied in fat and muscle content. Methods: Two hundred and fifty-eight male participants completed a range of psychometric measures to index body concerns and body ideal internalization and then chose the CG body that best reflected their own current body, as well as the body that reflected their personal ideal. A subset of participants was then retested to check that these judgements were stable over time. Results: While judgements of the ideal body seem to be influenced by a shared appearance ideal, the degree to which this ideal was internalized showed significant variability between participants. The effect of this internalization was reflected in the difference between the estimated current body and the ideal. Discussion: Higher internalization led to a preference for higher muscle and lower fat content. This preference was most marked for fat content, although reducing adiposity also made the underlying musculature more salient. Additionally, the ideal body composition was modulated by the composition the participant believed his current body had (i.e., it seemed that a participant's ideal body was anchored by what they believed to be their current body and what change was possible from this starting point).

How do looking patterns, anti-fat bias, and causal weight attributions relate to adults' judgements of child weight?

Prevailing weight-normative approaches to health pressure adults to visually categorise children's weight, despite little understanding of how such judgements are made. There is no evidence this strategy improves child health, and it may harm children with higher weights. To understand decision-making processes and identify potential mechanisms of harm we examined perceptual and attitudinal factors involved in adults' child weight category judgements. Eye movements of 42 adults were tracked while categorizing the weight of 40 computer-generated images of children (aged 4-5 & 10-11 years) varying in size. Questionnaires assessed child-focused weight bias and causal attributions for child weight. Participants' eye movement patterns resembled those previously reported for adult bodies. Categorisation data showed a perceptual bias towards the 'mid-range' category. For higher weight stimuli, participants whose category judgements most closely matched the stimulus's objective weight had higher child-focused anti-fat bias and weaker genetic attributions for child weight - i.e,. adults who 'label' higher weight in children in line with BMI categories report more stigmatising beliefs about such children, suggesting a possible mechanism of harm. Overall, adults' judgements reflect both unalterable perceptual biases and potentially harmful attitudinal factors, calling into question the feasibility and appropriateness of public health efforts to promote visual child weight categorisation.

The degree to which the cultural ideal is internalized predicts judgments of male and female physical attractiveness.

We used attractiveness judgements as a proxy to visualize the ideal female and male body for male and female participants and investigated how individual differences in the internalization of cultural ideals influence these representations. In the first of two studies, male and female participants judged the attractiveness of 242 male and female computer-generated bodies which varied independently in muscle and adipose. This allowed us to map changes in attractiveness across the complete body composition space, revealing single peaks for the attractiveness of both men and women. In the second study, we asked our participants to choose the most attractive male and female bodies in a method of adjustment task in which they could independently vary muscle and adipose to create the most attractive body. We asked whether individual differences in internalization of cultural ideals, drive for muscularity, eating disorder symptomatology and depressive symptoms could systematically shift the location of peak attractiveness in body composition space. We found a clear preference by both genders for a male body with high muscle and low adipose, and a toned, low adipose female body. The degree of internalization of cultural ideals predicted large individual differences in the composition of the most attractive bodies.

The Effect of Own Body Concerns on Judgments of Other Women's Body Size.

We investigated the relationships between healthy women's estimates of their own body size, their body dissatisfaction, and how they subjectively judge the transition from normal to overweight in other women's bodies (the "normal/overweight" boundary). We propose two complementary hypotheses. In the first, participants compare other women to an internalized Western "thin ideal," whose size reflects the observer's own body dissatisfaction. As dissatisfaction increases, so the size of their "thin ideal" reduces, predicting an inverse relationship between the "normal/overweight" boundary and participants' body dissatisfaction. Alternatively, participants judge the size of other women relative to the body size they believe they have. For this implicit or explicit social comparison, the participant selects a "normal/overweight" boundary that minimizes the chance of her making an upward social comparison. So, the "normal/overweight" boundary matches or is larger than her own body size. In an online study of 129 healthy women, we found that both opposing factors explain where women place the "normal/overweight" boundary. Increasing body dissatisfaction leads to slimmer judgments for the position of the "normal/overweight" boundary in the body mass index (BMI) spectrum. Whereas, increasing overestimation by the observer of their own body size shifts the "normal/overweight" boundary toward higher BMIs.

Fat talk is predicted by body dissatisfaction and social comparison with no interaction effect: Evidence from two replication studies.

Verbal denigration of personal body size and shape ("fat talk") is correlated with, and can have a causal influence on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. What is less clear is who is most likely to fat talk. To address this, Corning and Gondoli (2012) conducted a study confirming that a woman's body dissatisfaction directly predicted their fat talk. But this effect was scaled so that the likelihood of engaging in fat talk intensified if she had a stronger tendency to socially compare: the relationship was multiplicative. Here, we carried out two replications of Corning and Gondoli's (2012) study, the first with 189 UK participants and the second with 371 US participants. We found that multiple regression models predicting fat talk showed additive, but not multiplicative relationships. A robust Bayesian meta-analysis combining the results of our two studies with the results of the original study confirmed this. In conclusion, these studies show an additive relationship between fat talk and social comparison on fat talk.

3D visualisation of psychometric estimates for the ideal male body.

Psychological concerns are frequently indexed by psychometric questionnaires but the mental representations that they seek to quantify are difficult to visualise. We used a set of questionnaires designed to measure men's concept of their bodies including: the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS; McCreary & Sasse, 2000), the Perceived Sociocultural Pressures Scale (PSPS; Stice, Nemeroff, & Shaw, 1996a), the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015), and the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3; Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004). We combined their use with an interactive 3D modelling programme to allow men to create computer-generated representations of their ideal bodies. We used a principal component analysis to extract those shape components of our participants' CGI ideal bodies that were predicted by the questionnaires and reconstructed the body shapes that these questionnaires were capturing. Moving from the lowest to the highest score on both the DMS and SATAQ corresponded with changes in muscularity, particularly muscle mass and definition. This approach allows us to demonstrate the actual body features that are being captured by a particular questionnaire.

Targeting body image in eating disorders.

Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, are challenging to treat successfully and have a very high relapse rate. Body image disturbance (BID) is a core component of these eating disorders. It is a predictor of onset, treatment outcome and future relapse. However, recent studies suggest that BID can be improved by an adaptation of cognitive bias training. This does not target the accuracy of body size judgements, but instead focuses on how a body of a particular size is categorized by a patient. This recalibration of the categorical boundary at which bodies are judged as overweight, which challenges a patient's existing preconceptions about which constitutes an acceptable body size, seems to lead to a more general reassessment of eating disordered attitudes and a significant improvement in their psychological profile. These promising findings need further trials to determine the long-term effectiveness of such a targeted intervention, but it potentially provides an important additional treatment option. In addition, this cognitive bias training may also be an effective augmentation to treatment in other conditions that feature BID, such as bulimia nervosa and body dysmorphia.

Can realistic dolls protect body satisfaction in young girls?

Ultra-thin fashion dolls may represent a risk factor for thin-ideal internalisation and body dissatisfaction amongst young girls. We asked thirty one 5- to 9-year-old girls to engage in interactive play with commercially available dolls which were either ultra-thin (Barbie and Monster High) or represented a putative realistic childlike shape (Lottie and Dora) and to indicate their perceived own-body size and ideal body size on an interactive computer task both before and after play. There was a significant interaction between testing phase and doll group such that playing with the ultra-thin dolls led to the girls' 'ideal self' becoming thinner. A further 46 girls played with the ultra-thin dolls and then played with either the same dolls again, the realistic childlike dolls, or with cars. Initial play with the ultra-thin dolls again produced a drop in perceived ideal own body size; however, no group showed any significant change in their body ideals during the additional play phase. These data indicate the potential benefit of dolls representing a realistic child body mass to young girls' body satisfaction and do not support the hypothesis that the negative impacts of ultra-thin dolls can be directly countered by other toys.

Beyond BMI for self-estimates of body size and shape: A new method for developing stimuli correctly calibrated for body composition.

Accurate self-assessment of body shape and size plays a key role in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of both obesity and eating disorders. These chronic conditions cause significant health problems, reduced quality of life, and represent a major problem for health services. Variation in body shape depends on two aspects of composition: adiposity and muscularity. However, most self-assessment tools are unidimensional. They depict variation in adiposity only, typically quantified by the body mass index. This can lead to substantial, and clinically meaningful, errors in estimates of body shape and size. To solve this problem, we detail a method of creating biometrically valid body stimuli. We obtained high-resolution 3D body shape scans and composition measures from 397 volunteers (aged 18-45 years) and produced a statistical mapping between the two. This allowed us to create 3D computer-generated models of bodies, correctly calibrated for body composition (i.e., muscularity and adiposity). We show how these stimuli, whose shape changes are based on change in composition in two dimensions, can be used to match the body size and shape participants believe themselves to have, to the stimulus they see. We also show how multivariate multiple regression can be used to model shape change predicted by these 2D outcomes, so that participants' choices can be explained by their measured body composition together with other psychometric variables. Together, this approach should substantially improve the accuracy and precision with which self-assessments of body size and shape can be made in obese individuals and those suffering from eating disorders.

The acceptability and feasibility of using a 3D body size scale to initiate conversations about weight in toddlerhood: a mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Health Care Professionals struggle to initiate conversations about overweight in toddlerhood. A novel 3D body size scale (3D BSS) may facilitate engagement with this topic during pediatric appointments. OBJECTIVES: To explore barriers and facilitators to using the 3D BSS through a mixed-methods design. METHODS: For the qualitative phase, parents of toddlers (n = 38) participated in semi-structured interviews introducing the 3D BSS of 4-5-year-old children. For the quantitative phase, pre- and post-interview questionnaires were administered to ascertain the acceptability of the 3D BSS. RESULTS: Parents rated the 3D BSS as "very" (n = 20, 52.6%) to "moderately" (n = 12, 31.6%) acceptable. Thematic analysis revealed four barriers to acceptability: i) the sensitive nature of child weight, ii) the belief that weight does not determine health, iii) the visual normalisation of overweight and iv) the need to account for individual variation in growth patterns. However, these barriers could be overcome through three facilitators: i) the provision of expert guidance ii) the value of simple tools, and iii) tailoring conversations to familial needs. CONCLUSIONS: Parents considered the 3D BSS an acceptable visual resource to discuss child weight during routine appointments. However, the acceptability of the tool was conditional on a sensitive, collaborative, and tailored delivery approach.

Using immersive virtual reality to modify body image.

We tested the efficacy of a training programme, delivered in virtual reality (VR), to modify the perceptual boundary between what participants classify as a fat versus a thin body. Three cohorts of 20 female volunteers with high body image concerns were recruited to two intervention groups and one control group. All participants completed a 4-day training programme in VR where they categorised a series of 3D models as either thin or fat; one intervention group was presented with the stimuli briefly, while the other group had no time limits imposed. Both intervention groups were given inflationary feedback to shift their categorisations of the stimulus models towards higher BMIs. Our results show that, compared to controls, both intervention groups shifted their categorical boundaries between Day 1 and follow-up on Day 14. Unlimited stimulus presentation times were associated with a larger training effect. Furthermore, both intervention groups experienced statistically significant reductions in their concerns about their own body shape, weight and eating habits. However, only in the group with longer stimulus presentation times were these reductions consistent with a clinically meaningful effect. These findings suggest that manipulating categorical perception in VR might provide a complementary addition to existing treatments for eating disorders.

Muscles and the Media: A Natural Experiment Across Cultures in Men's Body Image.

An increasing number of studies are evidencing relationships between the drive for muscularity and potentially harmful behavioral strategies, such as unhealthy dieting and steroid use amongst men in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) populations. As such Western appearance standards proliferate around the world via the media, men who live in other cultural contexts are also at risk of potentially negative effects from aspiring to the "muscular ideal." However, few studies have explored these relationships in non-WEIRD populations. We investigated men's body ideals and body image in two non-WEIRD, non-White populations, Uganda (Africa) and Nicaragua (Central America), and compared them with an ethnically diverse sample of men in the United Kingdom. We also examined whether socio-cultural factors including media and ethnicity, predicted the drive for muscularity and body change behaviors among our participants. Results showed that Ugandan men had the least desire for muscularity relative to men in the United Kingdom. Supporting the Tripartite model we found that media and peer influences significantly predicted the drive for muscularity, particularly among men from White British and Nicaraguan Miskitu ethnic groups. By contrast, Creole / Garifuna and Mestizo men from Nicaragua were more likely to want to increase muscularity relative to Black African men from Uganda. Overall, our findings support previous research in demonstrating that there are cultural differences in the kind of body men desire, and that men from WEIRD and non-WEIRD populations may experience similar pressures to aspire to and attain a muscular body type.

Television consumption drives perceptions of female body attractiveness in a population undergoing technological transition.

Perceptions of physical attractiveness vary across cultural groups, particularly for female body size and shape. It has been hypothesized that visual media propagates Western "thin ideals." However, because cross-cultural studies typically consider groups highly differentiated on a number of factors, identifying the causal factors has thus far been impossible. In the present research, we conducted "naturalistic" and controlled experiments to test the influence of media access on female body ideals in a remote region of Nicaragua by sampling from villages with and without regular TV access. We found that greater TV consumption remained a significant predictor of preferences for slimmer, curvier female figures after controlling for a range of other factors in an ethnically balanced sample of 299 individuals (150 female, aged 15-79) across 7 villages. Within-individual analyses in 1 village over 3 years also showed an association between increased TV consumption and preferences for slimmer figures among some participants. Finally, an experimental study in 2 low-media locations demonstrates that exposure to media images of fashion models can directly impact participants' body size ideals. We provide the first converging cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental evidence from field-based research, that media exposure can drive changes in perceptions of female attractiveness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Are attitudinal and perceptual body image the same or different? Evidence from high-level adaptation.

We used a high-level adaptation paradigm to distinguish between two hypotheses: (1) perceptual and attitudinal body image measurements reflect conceptually different mechanisms which are statistically independent of each other; (2) attitudinal (e.g., questionnaire) and perceptual (e.g., visual yes-no) body image tasks represent two different ways of measuring exactly the same construct. Forty women, with no history of eating disorders, carried out the experiment. Each participant carried out five adaptation blocks, with adapting stimuli representing female bodies at: extreme-low body mass index (BMI), mid-low BMI, actual BMI of the observer, mid-high BMI, and extreme-high BMI. Block order was randomized across participants. The main outcome variable was percentage error in participants' self-estimates of body size, measured post-adaption. In regressions of this percentage error on the strength of the adapting stimuli together with observers' attitudinal body image as a covariate, we found positive regression slopes and no evidence for any interaction between the fixed effects. Therefore, we conclude that perceptual and attitudinal body image mechanisms are indeed independent of each other. In the light of this evidence, we discuss how people with eating disorders, like anorexia nervosa, may come to over-estimate their body size.

Perceptual Not Attitudinal Factors Predict the Accuracy of Estimating Other Women's Bodies in Both Women With Anorexia Nervosa and Controls.

Disturbance in how one's body shape and size is experienced, usually including over-estimation of one's own body size, is a core feature of the diagnostic criteria of anorexia nervosa (AN). Is this over-estimation specific to women with AN's judgments of their own body? Or is it just a general feature of their judgments about all bodies? If the latter, it would be consistent with a general error in the perception of body size potentially linked to the use of a different set of visual cues for judging body size. If the former, then this suggests that the over-estimation of own body size has a strong attitudinal component and may be part of the psycho-pathology of their condition. To test this hypothesis, 20 women with AN and 80 control observers estimated the body size of 46 women. The results show a strong effect of perceptual factors in estimating body size for both controls and women with AN. This result is consistent with size over-estimation of own body in AN having a strong attitudinal basis and being a core feature of the psycho-pathology of the condition.