Abstract
Body image research has primarily focused on women and the “thin ideal”. In women, a positive relationship between appearance investment and dietary restraint and exercise dependence has been shown, with appearance evaluation negatively related to moderate-vigorous physical activity. Thus, both appearance evaluation and investment are important to consider when investigating health behaviors. However, less is known about the outcomes associated with appearance evaluation and investment in men. This study examined whether appearance evaluation (discrepancy between the self and the ideal) and appearance investment (importance placed on appearance) contributed uniquely to the prediction of dietary restraint, exercise dependence and physical activity. Participants (N=275) were college men between the ages of 18-24. They completed measures of dietary restraint, exercise dependence symptoms, leisure-time physical activity, appearance evaluation and investment. A series of hierarchal regression analyses were completed controlling for body mass index on the first step, with appearance evaluation on the second and appearance investment on the final step for each outcome variable. Results indicated that only appearance investment was significantly positively related to all three outcome variables: dietary restraint (F(3, 273) = 17.79, p < .001, R2adj = .16), exercise dependence (F(3, 268) = 9.28, p < .001, R2adj = .08), and physical activity behavior (F(3, 271) = 2.93, p < .05, R2adj = .021). These results indicate that appearance investment is important to consider when investigating health-related behaviors in college men.Acknowledgments: Thanks to my supervisor Kimberley Gammage and Larkin Lamarche for all their help