The purpose of the current study was to operationalize the phenomenon of body deception, describe its theoretical importance, and validate its existence in an experimental paradigm. The definition of body deception includes the intentional misrepresentation of information about appearance to others. The present study examined body deception in a controlled experimental study of male and female same-sex peer groups using a series of hierarchical linear models. Ninety male and 90 female undergraduates were randomized to an experimental same-sex peer group or individual control condition. The results suggested that both men and women used body deception among peers, but men's body deception was muscularity driven whereas women's was thinness driven. Body dissatisfaction was significantly predictive of the degree of body deception used by both genders and it was significantly related to peer group membership. An integrated model for the role of body deception in body image disturbance is proposed.
Body deception refers to the purposeful misrepresentation of personal information about appearance, body size, or body composition to others. There are potentially a wide range of behaviors and activities designed to distort one's body in the eyes of others that include but are not limited to self-disclosure about shape, weight, or body composition (e.g., “These pants are size two”), camouflaging natural aspects of one's appearance (e.g., makeup, tanning, or even plastic surgery), and social comparisons (e.g., “I’m more muscular than he is”). Misrepresentation of bodily characteristics such as height and weight are well documented, and tend to be greater among women (Betz, Mintz, & Speakmon, 1994; Wada et al., 2005). To qualify as body deception, these behaviors, activities, or misrepresentations must be distortions of an objective reality. For instance, a self-disclosure such as “these pants are size two” would be body deception only when the individual had knowledge that this disclosure was inaccurate. A number of motivations may exist for this form of interpersonal deception; for example, avoidance of body evaluation from peers, reassurance seeking about one's appearance, achievement of social status with same-sex peer groups, or increased attention from potential partners. By definition, body deception occurs in a social context and is likely to have both interpersonal and intrapersonal consequences.
