Social Standards of Beauty, Body Image and Eating Disorders

Western cultures are blamed for placing extreme value on physical appearance, particularly on body shape and weight. Research has long documented the powerful role that sociocultural influences have on the development and persistence of a negative body image. This negative evaluation of and discontent about one’s body has been consistently linked with a range of body change–related behaviors, such as dieting, purging, overexercising, and ingesting muscle-building substances and anabolic-androgenic steroids, which are behind the development of several mental health disorders, including anorexia nervosa and muscle dysmorphia (or reverse anorexia). The term sociocultural indicates environmental factors that include the contextual experiences people encounter on a daily basis. These have a meaningful impact on how individuals evaluate themselves physically (body image) and modify their thoughts regarding acceptance of the prevailing social norms of physical beauty and appearance (internalization of social standards). These factors can also motivate changes in behaviors designed to produce a physical body more acceptable and closer to the idealized physique. The contemporary body change–related consequences of a negative body image are perhaps best understood by considering the underlying role played by the body shape ideal to which one aspires. Focusing on the idealized physique also contributes to a better understanding of the different methods that women and men adopt to reach their appearance-related goals. This entry discusses body image, sociocultural ideals for men and women, and the role of self-surveillance in realizing the discrepancy between one’s current body and ideal body.