Body Satisfaction Among Over 2000 Heterosexual, Gay, and Lesbian Participants Curtis Yee, M.A. David Frederick, M.A. Natalya Maisel, M.A. Negin Ghavami, M.A. University of California, Los Angeles

Purpose Most research has examined the body image concerns of young white heterosexual women Recently researchers have turned their attention to the experiences of sexual minorities and heterosexual men. When it comes to body satisfaction, does sexual orientation matter?

Does Sexual Orientation Relate to Body Image For Women? Sexual Minority Culture Hypothesis: The lesbian community is accepting of a wide array of body types, which leads lesbians to feel better about their bodies than do heterosexual women (e.g., Brown, 1987). Dominant Culture Hypothesis: Both lesbian and heterosexual women feel pressure to conform to media ideals featuring slender women (e.g., Dworkin, 1988)

Does Sexual Orientation Relate to Body Image for Men? Sexual Minority Culture Hypothesis: Gay men experience worse body image than heterosexual men because they experience more pressure from dating partners and gay media to be slender and toned. Dominant Culture Hypothesis: Gay men and heterosexual men experience equal levels of appearance related pressure resulting in no differences in body satisfaction.

What are the Findings? A meta-analysis by Morrison, Morrison, and Sager (2004) found that: Lesbian women report slightly better body image than heterosexual women (d =.12) Gay men report worse body image than heterosexual men (d =.29)

Hypotheses Consistent with Dworkin’s Dominant Culture perspective, lesbian women and heterosexual women will not differ Consistent with the sexual minority Culture hypothesis, gay men will report less body satisfaction than heterosexual men

Method Participants  Heterosexual men (N = 646)  Gay men (N = 130)  Lesbian women (N = 117)  Heterosexual women (N = 1619)  Mean Ages = Procedure Online survey posted at experiment websites, gay oriented websites and classified ad sites. All participants were over 18 years old, had not participated in the survey previously, and provided answers to all critical variables.

Measures Appearance Evaluation Scale.  7-item measure of overall body satisfaction. Higher scores = Better.  E.g., “I like my looks just the way they are” Overweight Preoccupation Scale.  4-item measure of concern with body fat. Higher = more concern.  E.g., “I constantly worry about being or becoming fat” Body Image Quality of Life Inventory.  19-item measure of how feelings about one’s body effects daily well- being. Higher = more positive effects  E.g., What effect does your body image have on your day-to-day emotions? Satisfaction With Life Scale.  5-item measure of overall life satisfaction. Higher = more satisfied.  E.g., “I am satisfied with my life”

Group Differences in Appearance Evaluation Higher scores = better appearance evaluation. HM > GM = LW = HW at p <.05

Group Differences in Overweight Preoccupation Higher scores = more overweight preoccupation. HM < GM = LW < HW at p <.05

Group Differences in Impact of Body Image on Quality of Life Higher scores = positive effects on quality of life. HM < GM = LW = HW at p <.05

Results: Body Image Satisfaction Among all groups, poorer body satisfaction (low appearance evaluation) was related to:  More overweight preoccupation  More negative impacts of body image on daily quality of life  Lower life satisfaction  Having a higher body fat level (BMI)

Conclusions Results for lesbian versus heterosexual women were consistent with the dominant culture perspective. No differences were found except for on overweight preoccupation. Results for gay men were consistent with the sexual minority culture perspective. Gay men consistently reported poorer body satisfaction across measures.