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May 27, 2005 (HealthDay News)
Men have their own insecurities:
The same survey finds nearly half of American males wishing
for a larger penis. At the same
time, however, 85 percent of females say they are "very satisfied" with
their partner's endowment.
"The picture this paints for us
is that people are way more self-critical of themselves than
they need to be. In reality, their partners are generally quite
satisfied with them and their physical attractiveness," said
David A. Frederick, a researcher in body-image issues at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
Frederick is lead author
of the two studies, each based on data collected from a 27-item
MSNBC/Elle magazine online survey on body image, posted on
both organization's Web sites for a two-week period in February
2003.
More than 50,000 adults averaging between 33 to 36 years
of age responded to the anonymous survey. The vast majority
(98 percent) of respondents filled out the survey while visiting
the MSNBC site.
Frederick believes Americans of both genders
face incredible media and social pressures to conform to nearly
unattainable physical ideals.
For women, "the popular Barbie doll, with her slender body, narrow hips and large
breasts represents this ideal," his team wrote in a study presented Friday at
the American Psychological Society annual meeting, in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately,
Barbie's proportions are "so extreme that it is estimated that just one in every
100,000 women possesses her body type," the researchers added. The drive to achieve
an ideal feminine body type is helping fuel a continuing boom in cosmetic surgery,
experts say. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, more than
264,000 women underwent breast augmentation in 2004 alone.
While men may feel
less pressure than women to attain the perfect physique, one body part, especially,
remains a focus of concern. According to Frederick, previous studies have shown
that men overwhelming link the size of their penis to their sense of masculinity,
and often worry that their partners are dissatisfied with their endowment.
But
how valid are these fears? According to Frederick, the MSNBC/Elle survey results
suggest many Americans are their own worst critics.
When asked about their breasts,
seven out of 10 women surveyed expressed dissatisfaction with either size (usually "too
small") or shape ("too droopy"). Women in the youngest age group (18 to 25) were
most likely to be content with their breasts (33 percent), but they were also
the most likely to desire bigger breasts (37 percent), according to the researchers.
As women aged, concerns turned from breast size to dissatisfaction with shape,
or "droopiness."
Males were much less critical when it came to judging their
wife's or girlfriend's breasts, however. Overall, "a majority of men (56 percent)
were satisfied with their partner's breasts," the researchers concluded. "A mere
20 percent of men in our sample wished their partner had larger breasts."
Frederick
acknowledges that previous, smaller studies have suggested that men view large
breasts as "ideal." That's because those studies have usually asked men to simply
pick their favorite from a series of photos, he said. "What we wanted to get
at in this study was how satisfied men are with their partner, because it could
be that men find a variety of breast sizes to be attractive, regardless of what
they rate as ideal."
For their part, women appear to be very accepting of male
endowment, the survey found. But even though 85 percent of women said they had
no problem with their boyfriend's or husband's size, nearly half (45 percent)
of all males surveyed said they wished for something larger. That number rose
to 54 percent among males who rated their penis length as just "average."
"The
really good news for men, though, was that only 6 percent of women considered
their partner 'smaller than average,'" Frederick pointed out. (For the record,
Frederick said the most reliable U.S. studies peg "average" penis size at an
erect length of approximately 5.5 inches.) The full results of this study will
be published soon, Frederick said.
"What's so interesting about these studies
is the way women and men see themselves," said Courtney Fea, another body-image
researcher and social psychologist who presented her own study Friday at the
Los Angeles meeting. "Even though many feel inadequate, they really don't understand
that others see them as quite adequate," she said.
Her study points to one obvious
remedy for some of this insecurity: compliments.
Focusing on college-age women,
her team at Kansas State University had participants engage in an evaluation
session that included a "Self-Objectification Questionnaire" aimed at spotting
women with an unhealthy body-image fixation.
At the end of the session, a female
researcher casually offered the women one of three remarks: "Thank you for participating," (neutral); "You
are a nice-looking person" (body compliment); and "You sound like a nice person" (character
compliment). The women were then retested using the Self-Objectification Questionnaire.
"Women
who looked at themselves first as bodies had less shame and became less concerned
about their appearance after a compliment," Fea said. "And the interesting finding
was that it didn't matter what kind of a compliment it was -- whether it was
about their body or character." On the other hand, compliments had little impact
either way on shame or depression in women without major body-image concerns,
Fea said.
The take-home message? "If you're thinking about complimenting someone, go ahead
and do it," Fea said. The study wasn't designed to test how long the feel-good
effects of a compliment can last, she said, but saying something nice certainly
can't hurt. "It not only makes them feel better, but it'll probably make you
feel better, too."
Frederick agreed that people shouldn't take it for granted
that their partner knows exactly how much they are valued.
"On both sides of
the coin, men and women should express themselves, and if they are satisfied
with their partner's appearance, this needs to be communicated," he said. That
kind of communication could help dispel fears that specific physiques or body
parts aren't up to par, he said.
It might even spice up relationships, Frederick
said. "The more confident your partner is, the healthier they'll be, including
being more interested in sex. There can be all kinds of positive outcomes."
More
information
To learn about a more serious condition called body dysmorphic
disorder, head to the American
Academy of Family Physicians.
© 2005 Forbes.com Inc.™
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