NOBODYS SATISFIED - EFFECTS OF ABNORMAL EATING BEHAVIORS AND ACTUAL AND PERCEIVED WEIGHT STATUS ON BODY-IMAGE SATISFACTION IN MALES AND FEMALES

The present study replicated Zellner, Harner, and Adler (1989) in find ing that all young adult women rate their Ideal figures (what they wou ld like to look like) and Opposite figures (what they believe the oppo site sex finds attractive) thinner than their Current figures (how the y believe they currently appear). While Low and High Eat scoring women chose an Ideal figure thinner than their Current figure, only High Ea t women (indicating abnormal eating behaviors) chose an Ideal figure t hinner than what they think men find attractive (Opposite). The presen t study also found that not only abnormal eating behaviors, but curren t weight status influences body image perception in young adult males and females. Both overweight men and women want to be thinner. Correct weight men (as determined from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Compan y height and weight chart, 1983) wish to be heavier, while correct wei ght women (also determined from the Metropolitan Life Insurance chart) wish to be thinner. Many correct weight males believe they are underw eight and so desire to be heavier, whereas females have a tendency to overestimate their size and therefore desire to be thinner. However, e ven when subjects perceive themselves as the correct weight they are d issatisfied. Almost all of the females who think they are the correct weight (35 out of 40) want to be thinner and 71% of the males either w ant to be thinner (7 out of 24) or heavier (10 out of 24).