This study explored whether three dimensions of men's body dissatisfaction (muscularity, body fat, and height) are distinct from drive for muscularity (body image, behaviors, and attitudes) in a sample of 368 college men. If body dissatisfaction is a unique construct, then it will be associated with psychological well-being above and beyond the variance accounted for by drive for muscularity body image, behaviors, and attitudes. Findings revealed such incremental evidence, supporting body dissatisfaction's unique contribution to all five investigated indices of psychological well-being. Overall, body dissatisfaction and drive for muscularity are not completely parallel constructs, highlighting the need to assess men's dissatisfaction with their muscularity, body fat, and height for a more comprehensive picture of their body image.
Although the body-image literature historically has focused mostly on women and their desire to become thinner, many researchers (e.g., Leit, Pope, & Gray, 2001; McCreary & Sasse, 2000; Tylka, Bergeron, & Schwartz, 2005) recently have argued that men also experience body-image concerns and have spearheaded much investigation in this area. This research has indicated that, unlike women, men's body image appears to be linked to their aspirations for increased muscle mass (Jacobi & Cash, 1994; McCreary & Sasse, 2000; Morrison, Morrison, Hopkins, & Rowan, 2004). Men's perceptions of their muscularity impact their well-being, suggesting that body image is an important topic of empirical and clinical interest for men (Pope, Phillips, & Olivardia, 2000).
Appropriately, many scholars have focused on men's drive for muscularity when conceptualizing men's body image. Drive for muscularity reflects dissatisfaction with current level of muscularity and preoccupation with performing behaviors geared toward increasing muscularity. Because body image contains behavioral as well as emotional, cognitive, and perceptual components (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999), drive for muscularity can be classified as a facet of men's body image.
