The DOI matches its Crossref record; 22 of the 23 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Do representations of male muscularity differ in men's and women's magazines?
Abstract
Men overestimate the degree of muscularity that is attractive to women, and women overestimate the degree of thinness that is most attractive to men. Consistent with the thesis that sociocultural input influences such body type preferences and beliefs, we postulated that magazines aimed at a male audience would portray a more muscular male body ideal than would magazines aimed at a female audience. Systematic comparison of popular magazines (Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Men's Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness) revealed that the ideal male body marketed to men is more muscular than the ideal male body marketed to women. We introduce the Physical Trait Overvaluation Hypothesis, which proposes that gender-specific media fuel emphasis on certain body parts in within-gender prestige competitions. The resulting competitive escalation creates a disconnect between the preferences of one gender and the personal aspirations of the other.
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“The muscular ideal has long been propagated in Western culture as shown by the appearance of male models (Frederick et al., 2005; Lanzieri and Cook, 2013), film stars (Pope et al., 2000a,b) computer game avatars (Martins et al., 2011), and action figures (Baghurst et al., 2006).”
From The degree to which the cultural ideal is internalized predicts judgments of male and female physical attractiveness (2022) · cites this paper as Frederick et al., 2005
Citations
Cites
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“Research employing similar measures designed for men has shown that men desire a level of muscularity that is greater than the level found attractive by women (Frederick & Haselton, 2003; Olivardia et al., 2004), and that men overestimate the level of muscularity women find ideal (Olivardia et al.”
BackgroundInfluentialGender Differences in Body Image Are Increasing
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Pope, H. G., Gruber, A. J., Mangweth, B., Bureau, B., DeCol, C., Jouvent, R., & Hudson, J. I. (2000) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.8.1297 · Cited by 428 · cited 2×
“In these studies, men chose as ideal a body that was more muscular than their current body (Buchanan, Frederick, & Friedman, 2005; Frederick & Haselton, 2003; Lynch & Zellner, 1999; Olivardia, Pope, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2004; Pope et al., 2000).”
BackgroundThe media's representation of the ideal male body: a cause for muscle dysmorphia?
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“One study examining advertisements in leading US women’s magazines (Cosmopolitan and Glamour) observed that images of undressed men increased from 3% in the 1950s to 35% in the 1990s, suggesting that male physiques are becoming more important to women over time (Pope et al., 2001).”
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“In making sense of these patterns, many investigators (e.g., Alexander, 2003; Thompson et al., 1999) argue that individuals assess themselves on a variety of criteria, including their physical attractiveness, by comparing themselves to gender-specific ideals communicated to them by society.”
BackgroundPhysical Attractiveness and the Theory of Sexual Selection: Results from Five Populations
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Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 23 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Davidov, V. M. (2000). Physical ideals and mate choices: A comparative study of heterosexual male and lesbian populations. Unpublished master's thesis. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.
Cited by
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Swami, V., Frederick, D. A., Aavik, T., Alcalay, L., Allik, J., Anderson, D., Andrianto, S., Arora, A., Brännström, Å., Cunningham, J., et al. (2010) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167209359702 · Cited by 731
Self-citationThe enigma of male eating disorders: A critical review and synthesis
Murray, S. B., Nagata, J. M., Griffiths, S., Calzo, J. P., Brown, T. A., Mitchison, D., Blashill, A. J., & Mond, J. (2017) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2017.08.001 · Cited by 715
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Why Is Muscularity Sexy? Tests of the Fitness Indicator Hypothesis
Frederick, D. A., & Haselton, M. G. (2007) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167207303022 · Cited by 403
Self-citationDesiring the muscular ideal: Men's body satisfaction in the United States, Ukraine, and Ghana.
Frederick, D. A., Buchanan, G. M., Sadehgi-Azar, L., Peplau, L. A., Haselton, M. G., Berezovskaya, A., & Lipinski, R. E. (2007) · Psychology of Men & Masculinity · doi:10.1037/1524-9220.8.2.103 · Cited by 367
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Frederick, D. A., Fessler, D. M. T., & Haselton, M. G.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Frederick, David A.
- Venue
- Body Image
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-03
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 81-86
- ISSN
- 1740-1445 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1999032262
- Semantic Scholar
- cdc5ce99b2c6c9aa0418d53d0d82f30e74c6f650
- Cited by
- 204
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 9.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Body Image (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Media, Gender, and Advertising
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Roles and Identity Studies
- Keywords
- body ideals, media influence on body image, physical attractiveness
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