The Drive For Muscularity And Masculinity Research Papers Example

Abstract

For women, body fat and body shape are typically considered to be issues concerning women’s body image. Thus, many women try dieting to decrease body fat often leading to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. However for men, a big and muscular build is the social standard that they aspire to achieve (McCreary D, 2005). Thus, muscularity is considered to be important in men and boys since it is linked to perceptions of their masculinity. The hypotheses to be tested are: 1) what are the differences between men and women’s attitudes concerning muscle mass and body fat/body shape? 2) Is men’s concern for muscle mass correlated with their sense of masculinity?
Study participants completed surveys consisting of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and included 199 participants from different ethnic backgrounds. The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) is a 30 item measure geared toward consequences of body shape concern. It includes two 15 item scales odd numbers taken from the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS) and from the Body Shape Questionnaire Scale (BSQS). According to the results of the study for the 199 participants, the current alpha calculated for masculinity was 0.776 and alpha for femininity was 0.798. Masculinity is correlated with Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS) with a Pearson’s correlation result of 0.15 and a Sig (2-tailed) value of 0.892. Masculinity is negatively correlated with Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) with a result of -0.97 according to Pearson’s correlation analysis and a Sig (2-tailed) value of 0.365. Overall, Masculinity appears to be correlated with a Drive for Muscularity in the study population as expected which confirms the idea that men’s concern for muscle mass correlated with their sense of masculinity.

Introduction:

Historically body image has mostly been considered to be an issue for women but men sometimes also have body image issues. For women, body fat is typically considered to be an issue and many women try dieting to decrease body fat often leading to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. However for men, big and muscular build is the social standard that they aspire to achieve (McCreary D, 2005). Thus, muscularity is considered to be important in men and boys since it is linked to perceptions of their masculinity. Furthermore, the drive for muscularity is associated with lower self-esteem and more depressive symptoms in boys than in girls (McCreary D, 2005).

Hypotheses:

What are the differences between men and women’s attitudes concerning muscle mass and body fat/body shape?
Is men’s concern for muscle mass correlated with their sense of masculinity?
Methods:
Participants: A total of 199 participants completed surveys. The study participants were 45.2 percent men and 54.8 percent women between the ages of 9 and 66 years with the average age of 28.57 years old. A majority of the sample identified as middle class (N=100, 51.3 %) and most were exclusively heterosexual (N=177, 90.3%). According to ethnicity distribution, the white participants in the study were the most (N= 96, 48.2%), followed by the Hispanic population in the study which was N= 32, 16.1%, the African American population was N=11, 5.5%, Asian population was N=11, 2.5%, Latino/a population N=10, 5.0 %, Indian population was N=5, 2.5% and the study participants also included Russian, Italian, Haitian, Columbian and other populations.

Measurements:

The current study uses a two part survey consisting of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), and Rate Your Traits Personality Measure (RTPM) along with questions asking for demographic information. The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) is a 30 item measure geared toward consequences of body shape concern. It includes two 15 item scales odd numbers taken from the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS) and from the Body Shape Questionnaire Scale (BSQS).
DMS is the Drive for Muscularity Scale. This scale includes15 items and is designed to measure the extent to which people desire to have a more muscular body (McCreary D, 2005). Items on the DMS scale represent a combination of attitudes and behaviors. The male type gender role dimensions such as Unmitigated Agency, Male Sex Specific Behaviors, and Male-Type Behaviors are positively associated with the drive for muscularity (McCreary D, 2005).
Researchers examining the relationships between the drive for muscularity and perceptions of masculinity and femininity need to be very specific about the gender-role dimensions they are measuring (McCreary D, 2005). The short form Sex Role Behavior Scale (SRBS) is a measure of the extent to which people act in gender-typed ways (McCreary D, 2005). Overall, higher levels of male gender role and not lower levels of female gender role are most closely associated with the desire to be more muscular. The results of this study with 199 participants for DMS resulted in the Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.837.
The Body Shape Questionnaire Scale (BSQS) appears to be a valid measure of body shape disparagement. BSQ is often a peripheral measure of eating disorders studies (Evans C, 1992). As for the total BSQ score, all the scales had a non-significant relationship with social status. A simple convergent measure of body image shows that there is a strong correlation between self-categorization (very overweight, overweight, average, underweight) and total BSQ score which is statistically significant (Evans C, 1992).
The items in the BSQ include “I lift weights to build muscle”, “I avoid wearing clothes that make me particularly aware of my body shape” and “Eating even a small amount of food makes me feel fat”. The shortened form of BSQ shows no reduction in usefulness or psychometric robustness (Evans C, 1992). In the study performed using 199 participants, overall alpha was 1.239.
Rate Your Traits Personality Measure (RTPM) includes a 60 item scale taken from the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) which is designed to facilitate research on psychological androgyny (Hoffman R, 2001). In Bem’s study, “Masculine” men tended not to demonstrate nurturance while “Feminine” men tended not to demonstrate independence. “Feminine” women were considered low in independence and “Masculine” women low in nurturance. Androgyny refers to andro=male, gyne= female. Androgynous persons of both sexes demonstrated independence and nurturance depending on the situation (Hoffman R, 2001).
BSRI contains three scales of 20 items each for masculine, feminine, and androgynous traits (Hoffman R, 2001). The masculine traits include independent, forceful, dominant characteristics which are considered to be stereotypically masculine. The stereotypically feminine traits were kindness, affectionate and gentleness. The gender neutral characteristics were truthfulness, conscientious and conceited (Hoffman R, 2001). In this study, only the masculine and feminine scales were used for the analysis. According to the results of the study for the 199 participants, the current alpha calculated for masculinity was 0.776 and alpha for femininity was 0.798.

Procedure:

Data collection was performed using surveys given to study participants to complete. Study participants returned the surveys with information and questionnaires completed and a total of 199 participants participated in the study. The data collected included demographic data such as age, ethnicity, height and weight. In order to analyze the data statistical tests such as ANOVA for DMS, BSQ, Masculinity, and Femininity were performed. Correlation analysis between Masculinity and DMS, Femininity and DMS, Masculinity and BSQ, Femininity and BSQ were also performed.

Discussion and Results:

The result of this current study on 199 participants with 89 male participants indicates that masculinity is correlated with Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS) with a Pearson’s correlation result of 0.15 and a Sig (2-tailed) value of 0.892. Masculinity is negatively correlated with Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) with a result of -0.97 according to Pearson’s correlation analysis and a Sig (2-tailed) value of 0.365. Femininity is negatively correlated with DMS with a Pearson’s correlation of -0.165 and Sig (2-tailed) of 0.93. These correlation values are as expected since the social ideal for a woman is not a muscular physique but more emphasis on body shape and thinness. The BSQ correlation with Femininity was -0.087 for Pearson’s correlation and Sig (2-tailed) of 0.381. This negative correlation value of -0.087 on the analysis performed with 106 female participants is somewhat unexpected.

Limitations of the study:

Limitations of this study include more subjects and more calculations on the data collected could have been performed. Although the sample of 199 participants is ethnically diverse, studies which compared ethnicity with BSQ and DMS could have been performed. 96 of the 199 study participants were classified as white making them almost half of the population studied. Larger sample sizes for specific groups could have been obtained. The demographic could have included more elderly people and other populations as well. Studies and correlation calculations for sexual orientation with DMS and BSQ could also have been analyzed. All these factors could have influenced the study results. Overall, with traditional gender roles changing fast in society, male and female traits may no longer correspond to society’s perceptions of masculinity and femininity. Thus, this study may be somewhat outdated.

Future Directions:

For future studies, a larger sample size could be studied of approximately 1000 participants and more complicated calculations performed. The BSQ correlation with Femininity was -0.087 for Pearson’s correlation and Sig (2-tailed) of 0.381. This negative correlation value of -0.087 on the analysis performed with 106 female participants is somewhat unexpected. It is possible that the variables used to study BSQ were not classified properly and perhaps a shortened version of the survey needed to be used in order to study the impact of specific variables. Furthermore, it would be valuable to estimate whether the same drive to be thin in homosexual females is similar to heterosexual females. Similarly, a study for homosexual and heterosexual men for masculinity and their drive for muscularity could also be performed. It would also be interesting to determine if the drive for masculinity varies with educational achievement and under different job settings such as construction workers versus professionals in office settings.

References:

McCreary D, Saucer D, “The Drive for Muscularity and Masculinity: Testing the Associations Among Gender-Role Traits, Behaviors, Attitudes, and Conflict”, Psychology of Men and Masculinity, Volume 6, Number 2, 83-94, 2005
Evans C, Dolan B, Body Shape Questionnaire: Derivation of Shortened “Alternate Forms”, International Journal of Eating Disorders, Volume 13, Number 3, 315-321,1992
Hoffman R, Borders L, “Twenty Five Years After the Bem Sex-Role Inventory: A Reassessment and New Issues Regarding Classification Variability”, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, Volume 34, 2001
Results
Fill in the table below (include table number and table title) and add it to your paper after your references:
The means and standard deviations for male and female participants for the DMS, BSQ and BSRI Masculinity and Femininity scales are listed in Table 1.
A one-way independent samples ANOVA was run to test the effect of gender on DMS indicated a significant effect F (25.138, 0.00) =_____, p=____, where males did not score significantly higher than females.
A one-way independent samples ANOVA was run to test the effect of gender on BSQ indicated a significant effect F (1.239, 0.267) =_____, p=____, where females scored significantly higher than males.
A one-way independent samples ANOVA was run to test the effect of gender on Masculinity indicated a significant effect F (8.500, 0.004) =_____, p=____, where males scored significantly higher than females.
A one-way independent samples ANOVA was run to test the effect of gender on Femininity indicated a significant effect F (11.169, 0.001) = _____, p=____, where females scored significantly higher than males.
Correlations were run looking at relationships between Masculinity and DMS, Masculinity and BSQ, Femininity and DMS and finally Femininity and BSQ. No significant correlations were found between any of the indicated measures.
Tables for Statistics