Judgement accuracy in body preferences among African Americans

Perceptions of body size vary by gender and ethnicity. Women are more dissa tisfied with their bodies than are men and Caucasian women are more dissati sfied with their bodies than are African American women. The purpose of thi s study was to examine if African American men and women accurately estimat e the level of thinness preferred by the opposite gender. We predicted that African American women would correctly estimate the level of thinness foun d attractive by African American men, thereby providing support for the exp lanation that African American women are partially protected from experienc ing similar levels of body dissatisfaction as Caucasian women do because th ey correctly estimate that African American men like larger women. Particip ants were 68 African American women and 34 African American men. The result s supported our prediction, African American women accurately estimate the level of thinness preferred by African American men.