The relationship between body image and self-concept: an age and gender analysis.

Abstract

The relationship between body image and self-concet appears to be well grounded. However, this research has primarily used young adults as participants. Is it accurate to declare a global relationship between these two constructs when research has predominantly been done with a limited age group? The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship between body image and self-concept existed for a sample of middle aged as well as young adult individuals. Gender differences concerning body image and self-concept were also studied. Eighty-eight participants were divided into four groups depending on their age and gender: young adult men, young adult women, middle aged men, and middle aged women. Each group had approximately equal numbers. Each participant was administered the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the Body Cathexis Scale which measures body image. A Pearson product moment correlation was utilized to determine the relationship between these two measures. A t-test was utilized to determine which groups significantly differed from one another. The results showed that, in general, there were no significant differences between young and middle aged participants on measures of body image and self-concept. However, after analyzing subgroups, young men showed a significant, positive relationship between body image and self-concept. When contrasting these young men with the middle aged men, who did not show a relationship, these results suggest age differences exist for men but not for women. Finally, the results showed gender differences on measures of body image, with women being slightly less satisfied. The implication of these results is that age and gender affect how one experiences the relationship between body image and self-concept. In addition, previous research which utilized young men may not be applicable to middle aged men.