Can appearance conversations explain differences between gay and heterosexual men's body dissatisfaction?

Men's body dissatisfaction is prevalent and a serious health concern as it is associated with negative outcomes including depression, disordered eating, and anabolic steroid abuse. Gay men are particularly vulnerable to body dissatisfaction, perhaps due to heightened sociocultural appearance pressures experienced in gay subculture. Appearance conversations represent an underresearched, but potentially potent, mechanism of appearance pressures. The current study explored whether differences in the frequency of engaging in appearance conversations accounted for differences in body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors among gay and heterosexual men. A purposeful sample of gay (N = 77, Mage = 32.57) and heterosexual (N = 78, Mage = 25.30) men were recruited from community organizations in the United Kingdom. Participants completed an online questionnaire assessing appearance conversations, body dissatisfaction, appearance orientation, and internalization of appearance ideals. Gay men reported more frequent engagement in positive and negative appearance conversations and greater body dissatisfaction, appearance orientation, and general internalization than heterosexual men. Moreover, frequency of appearance conversations mediated the relationship between sexuality and the majority of study variables, including body dissatisfaction (ps<.05). These findings suggest that appearance conversations are an important sociocultural influence on male body image and that they are important in understanding the differences between gay and heterosexual men's body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors. © 2013 American Psychological Association

I'm not just fat, I'm old: Has the study of body image overlooked " old talk"?

Background: Research indicates that body dissatisfaction is correlated with and often predictive of both physical and mental health problems. " Fat talk," a well-studied form of body image talk in adolescents and university-aged women, has been implicated as contributing to body dissatisfaction and mediating the relationship between body dissatisfaction and other mental health problems. Limited research, however, has investigated fat talk across the female lifespan. Further, consistent with most body image research, fat talk research solely focuses on the thin dimension of idealized female attractiveness, even though other dimensions may contribute to body dissatisfaction in women. Method: The current study investigated whether or not " old talk," a hereto un-described form of body image talk, appears to be a parallel, but distinct, form of body image talk that taps into the young dimension of the thin-young-ideal standard of female beauty. An international, internet sample of women (aged 18-87, N = 914) completed questionnaires aimed at assessing fat talk, old talk, body image disturbance, and eating disorder pathology. Results: Results indicated that both fat talk and old talk were reported by women across the lifespan, although they evidenced different trajectories of frequency. Like fat talk, old talk was significantly correlated with body image disturbance and eating disorder pathology, albeit at a lower rate than fat talk in the total sample. Old talk was more highly correlated with ageing appearance anxiety than fat talk, and the correlation between old talk and body image disturbance and ED pathology increased with women's ages. Conclusion: Results suggest that old talk is a form of body image talk that is related to but distinct from fat talk. Old talk appears to be similarly problematic to fat talk for women whose age increases their deviation from the thin-young-ideal. Further research into the phenomenon of old talk is warranted as is increased attention to fat talk across the full lifespan of women. © 2013 Becker et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Looking age-appropriate while growing old gracefully: A qualitative study of ageing and body image among older adults

© SAGE Publications. Body dissatisfaction can be significantly detrimental to wellbeing. Little is known about older adults' body image, despite the fact that ageing causes unique bodily changes and that sociocultural pressures to resist these changes abound. We conducted six focus groups with a UK community sample of White British and South Asian older adults aged 65-92 years. Thematic analysis highlighted four themes: appearance indicates capability and identity; physical ability trumps appearance; felt pressures to age 'gracefully' while resisting appearance changes; and gender and cultural differences. These findings suggest that older adults' body image can have important implications for their wellbeing and merits researchers' attention

"Appearance potent"? A content analysis of UK gay and straight men's magazines.

With little actual appraisal, a more 'appearance potent' (i.e., a reverence for appearance ideals) subculture has been used to explain gay men's greater body dissatisfaction in comparison to straight men's. This study sought to assess the respective appearance potency of each subculture by a content analysis of 32 issues of the most read gay (Attitude, Gay Times) and straight men's magazines (Men's Health, FHM) in the UK. Images of men and women were coded for their physical characteristics, objectification and nudity, as were the number of appearance adverts and articles. The gay men's magazines featured more images of men that were appearance ideal, nude and sexualized than the straight men's magazines. The converse was true for the images of women and appearance adverts. Although more research is needed to understand the effect of this content on the viewer, the findings are consistent with a more appearance potent gay male subculture

Looking age-appropriate while growing old gracefully: A qualitative study of ageing and body image among older adults

Abstract Body dissatisfaction can be significantly detrimental to wellbeing. Little is known about older adults&apos; body image, despite that ageing causes unique bodily changes and that sociocultural pressures to resist these changes abound. We conducted six focus groups with a UK community sample of White British and South Asian older adults aged 65-92 years. Thematic analysis highlighted four themes: appearance indicates capability and identity; physical ability trumps appearance, felt pressures to age &apos;gracefully&apos; while resisting appearance changes, and gender and cultural differences. These findings suggest that older adults&apos; body image can have important implications for their wellbeing and merits researchers&apos; attention. Keywords: Ageing, Appearance, Health, Body Image Running Head: AGEING AND BODY IMAGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS 3 Looking age-appropriate while growing old gracefully: A qualitative study of ageing and body image among older adults Ageing is accompanied by significant changes to physical appearance and functionality. These may include hair loss and change of colour, weight changes, the use of dentures, hearing and mobility aids, and changes in body shape and skin elasticity. Despite these changes reflecting normal ageing processes, individuals experience them within a culture that highly values and emphasises the importance of a youthful appearance (Becker et al., 2013). Older adults often experience sociocultural pressures to conform to youthful appearance ideals. 1 These pressures can impact their body image, which is an individual&apos;s thoughts, feelings and behaviours associated with their appearance and physical ability Despite the rapid increase in ageing populations in developed and less developed countries, whereby the number of people aged 65 and above has tripled in the last 50 years (United Nations, 2013), most appearance and body image research has focused on childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Only limited research has examined the presence and nature of body image and related sociocultural pressures during mid to older adulthood. Furthermore, such research has tended to produce inconsistent findings and has overly focused on White older adult women Qualitative research with White women aged between 50-70 years suggests that 1 There is no definitive rule for what age constitutes the start of older adulthood. In ageing research, however, the convention is for older adulthood to be defined as 65 years and older (Erber, 2013). Running Head: AGEING AND BODY IMAGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS 4 concerns regarding the effect of ageing on body image are prevalent among this sample and that felt sociocultural appearance pressures are salient (e.g., Research is similarly equivocal about the effect of ageing on men&apos;s and women&apos;s general this area has been &quot;deficient in fully uncovering the nuances of diversity and the ways that intersectionality informs older adults&apos; embodied experience&quot;. They add &quot;there is a strong need to capture both the perceptions and the experiences of the aging body from the perspective of older men and women&quot;. In summary, while the existing research suggests that age-related appearance changes may be salient and give rise to appearance concerns, little is known about how older adults actually experience body image in the context of an appearance orientated society and an ageing body. The aim of this study therefore was to use a focus group methodology to explore indepth how ageing, appearance, and sociocultural appearance pressures may influence older adults&apos; body image (defined here as those aged 65 years and older). An additional aim was to recruit a more diverse population of older adults than has been traditionally sampled in previous research (i.e., a sample that included men and ethnic minority groups). Because there has been limited research with older adults, and the research to date has produced mixed Running Head: AGEING AND BODY IMAGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS 6 findings, we selected a qualitative design so that the results would largely be driven by participants&apos; accounts, rather than researchers&apos; assumptions about the nature and scope of body image concerns and sociocultural appearance pressures for older adults Method Procedure Nine community support organisations for older adults, based in the south west of England, were approached to request permission to invite their members to take part in a focus group on body image, ageing and society. Three organisations (Age UK Bristol, LinkAge and Dhek Bhal 2 ) granted permission for the first author to attend their local meetings to recruit older adults for this study. Subsequently, six focus groups were conducted between March and June 2012. Each focus group consisted of 4-6 participants, with four single-sex groups (two groups of males, two groups of females) and two mixed-sex groups. Ethics approval from the University of the West of England was granted for this study. Focus groups were conducted until saturation was reached, a point at which no new themes or information were apparent. Participants A total of 28 women and men (16 women, 12 men) aged 66-92 years (M =79.38, SD 2 Dhek Bhal is an organization that aims to support South Asian adults living in Bristol, UK, and the surrounding area Running Head: AGEING AND BODY IMAGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS 7 = 7.26) took part in the focus group discussions 3 . Participants identified as White British (n = 20; 71%) or South Asian (n = 8; 29%). Of the participants who reported their marital status, most identified as &apos;married&apos; (n = 13, 61%), with fewer as &apos;widowed&apos; (n = 4, 19%), &apos;single&apos; (n = 2, 10%), or &apos;divorced&apos; (n = 2, 10%). Of the participants who reported their height and weight, the average BMI was 21.06 (SD = 11.13) which is within the &apos;normal&apos; range for adults of this age group Data collection and analysis Four focus groups were led by the first author (a White British male in his twenties) with the remaining two were led by the third author (a White British female in her forties). Two female White British research assistants in their twenties observed the focus groups to record notes on speaker order. Each focus group discussion lasted between 50 and 63 minutes. Within each focus group, the discussions were interactive and all participants contributed freely to the discussion (i.e., responding to the moderator, as well as other participants). After participants provided written consent and demographic information, each moderator led the focus group using a semi-structured discussion schedule, derived from

Detection of a glitch in the pulsar J1709-4429

We report the detection of a glitch event in the pulsar J1709$-$4429 (also known as B1706$-$44) during regular monitoring observations with the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (UTMOST). The glitch was found during timing operations, in which we regularly observe over 400 pulsars with up to daily cadence, while commensally searching for Rotating Radio Transients, pulsars, and FRBs. With a fractional size of $\Delta\nu/\nu \approx 52.4 \times10^{-9}$, the glitch reported here is by far the smallest known for this pulsar, attesting to the efficacy of glitch searches with high cadence using UTMOST.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figur

Dissemination of evidence-based body image interventions: A pilot study into the effectiveness of using undergraduate students as interventionists in secondary schools.

Dissonance-based body image interventions are among the most effective interventions for adolescent girls. However, dissemination of these interventions remains challenging. In addition, the emerging field of positive body image suggests that interventions should promote body appreciation as well as reduce pathology. The current study examines whether undergraduate students can effectively deliver a dissonance-based intervention to secondary school girls. In addition, it examines whether this intervention can increase body appreciation. Sixty-two adolescent girls were randomly allocated to the intervention or control condition. In the intervention group, body dissatisfaction was significantly reduced and body appreciation was significantly improved from pre- to post-intervention. There were no changes in body dissatisfaction or body appreciation in the control group. There was a reduction in thin-ideal internalization for all participants. These preliminary findings suggest that undergraduate students can be effective interventionists for dissonance-based programs in schools and dissonance-based interventions can promote body appreciation

Young men’s minimisation of their body dissatisfaction

Objective: To examine men’s body dissatisfaction qualitatively. Design: Forty-two British men aged 18–45 years took part in a two-session group intervention across 12 groups. The intervention was designed to improve body dissatisfaction by engaging them in a critique of the appearance ideal through written and behavioural exercises. Main outcome measures/results: Analysis of the topics discussed during the intervention generated two core themes. Theme 1 showed that, in general, men minimised the existence of their own body dissatisfaction while (somewhat surprisingly) outlining the ubiquity and potency of the appearance ideal for men in general. Theme 2 involved men reporting the problematic impact of body dissatisfaction in their lives (despite earlier minimisation), such as social avoidance, strict eating and supplement regimes, or difficulty in situations where the body was exposed. Conclusion: The results stress the need to acknowledge that men experience a range of impacts of body dissatisfaction beyond clinical presentations (such as disordered eating) that influence their everyday lives, while also recognising that they tend to minimise this dissatisfaction in conversation. These findings have important implications for advocacy and interventions to improve men’s body dissatisfaction

UK Student Racism Views Survey

Survey conducted in June 2020 with 395 UK students on racism views, anti-racist recommendations support, university support &amp; discrimination experiences

Hair Loss Impact

Project designed to independantly assess the impact and responses to non-disease related hair loss (aka androgentic alopecia) on men