Body perception can be influenced by internal (body satisfaction) and external pressures (social comparison). In this study, 120 young women (18-to-30-year-olds) performed two tasks: they estimated the weight of 15 female body images and they compared their weight to that of the images presented in random order. For each estimation, they provided confidence judgments using a Likert scale. Afterward, they completed the Sociocultural Attitudes Questionnaire Towards Appearance (SATAQ-4R) and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-21) to evaluate the perceived social pressure on the body image. Estimation accuracy in the first task was predicted by confidence judgments. Estimation accuracy in the weight comparison tasks was predicted by Body Measuring Index (BMI), weight concern, body dissatisfaction, and peer pressure. Results show that when comparing our weight to others, our own weight, how we feel about our body, and the perceived pressure to change it determines how accurately we compare it to other people’s bodies.

One of the consequences of the pandemic is that throughout 2020 virtual interactions largely replaced face-to-face interactions. Though there are few studies of how social media impacts body image perception across genders, research suggests that socializing through a virtual self-body image might have distinct implications for men and women. On an online study, we examined whether type of social pressure and body-ideal exert distinct pressures on members of the X, Y, and Z generations. Results showed media pressure affected body image satisfaction significantly more than other kinds of social pressure across genders and generations, with young males reporting a higher impact compared to older males. Males experienced more pressure to be muscular and women to be thin, especially for the younger generation.Future research should focus on social media as a potential intervention tool for the detection and prevention of body image disorders in both young female and male adults.

This study explored how sociocultural pressures and internalized beauty ideals play a role in how women and men perceive the attractiveness of different body types of the same and opposite gender. Results showed that when judging the attractiveness of bodies of the same gender, internalized beauty ideals have different effects on women and men. Women’s judgments of the attractiveness of female bodies are predicted by the pressure exerted by a thin beauty ideal, while men’s judgments of the attractiveness of male bodies are predicted instead by a muscular beauty ideal. Attractiveness judgments for bodies of the opposite gender are influenced by the pressure to be thin and the perceived influence of significant others. Sociocultural pressures also have a stronger effect on women than men. These findings offer an initial window into the distinct factors that shape body image construction for the digital generation of women and men.

Our ability to perceive our own and other people’s bodies is critical to the success of social interactions. Research has shown that adults have a distorted perception of their own body and those of other adults. However, these studies ask perceivers to estimate for adults that have similar bodily make-up. This study explored the developmental progression in how children perceive their own body (5-12-yrs-olds) (Exp1) and whether children have similar distortions as adults when estimating the dimensions of adult bodies both unknown (Exp2) and familiar to them (Exp3). Overall, children showed similar distortions to those found in adult’s estimations for own body perception (i.e., limbs with a smaller density of sensory receptors showed a larger error than those with a higher density) and perception of adult’s bodies showed less distortion when perceiver and model were of the same gender, but not when the adult was familiar to the child.