NCJ Number
214832
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 271-279
Date Published
April 2006
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examined links between young women's (mean age of 22.46 years) images of their bodies and their romantic relationships.
Abstract
The findings indicate that even women who are in a satisfying and durable relationship with a romantic partner who views their bodies positively are not buffered from the societal influences that idealize a thin feminine body. As expected, a woman's romantic partner was generally more satisfied with his partner's body than was the woman herself, even in relatively new relationships. Women's body mass index (weight in relation to height) was related to both their own satisfaction with their bodies as well as their perception of their partners' views of their bodies; however, a woman's body size was not related to either the quality or the duration of her relationship. Neither was there a link between women's reports of the quality of their romantic relationships and their own satisfaction with their bodies, their perceptions of their partners' satisfaction with their bodies, or the men's own reports of their satisfaction with their partners' bodies. The study sample consisted of 95 heterosexual couples recruited from a northeastern university campus and its surrounding community. Participants completed the questionnaire in separate rooms. The women were asked about their view of their appearance, how they would prefer to look, how their romantic partner viewed their appearance, and the type of body they believed their partner would prefer them to have. Men were asked their opinion of their partner's appearance and the type of body they would prefer their partner to have. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 40 references