Abstract:
Objective: Women and girls are usually found to be more dissatisfied with their body and appearance than men and boys. For women and girls in Western cultures body dissatisfaction has become a common experience. Although boys are more satisfied with their bodies than girls, recent data indicate that their dissatisfaction has also increased over the last few years. Furthermore a negative body image has been found to have an impact on adolescents’ psychological well-being and to be an important predictor of problematic eating behaviour. As to the origins of body dissatisfaction, one assumption is that the internalisation of beauty standards plays an important role. Another approach is based on the ‘objectified body consciousness’ phenomenon (OBC). According to McKinley’s (1998) theory, women more than men learn to view their own body as if they were outside observers. 

So far, in the literature on problematic eating behaviour, mainly girls’ body image has been investigated. The theory of ‘objectified body consciousness’ has so far only been examined in one adult sample. In the present study, the focus lies on the body image of both adolescent girls and boys. The aim of the study is to determine the relationships between body dissatisfaction, objectified body consciousness (OBC), awareness and internalisation of beauty standards, self-esteem, and eating behaviour for both genders. On the basis of the results, perspectives toward (possibly gender-specific) prevention programmes will be developed. The main hypothesis is that the more beauty ideals are internalised or the more a person views his or her body from an outside perspective (OBC) the higher the dissatisfaction.

Method: The sample consists of 1778 adolescent girls (n = 876) and boys (n = 902) aged 12 to 22 in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The participants have already completed a questionnaire including instruments tapping body dissatisfaction, objectified body consciousness, awareness and internalisation of beauty standards, eating behaviour, and self-esteem. I will now proceed to the detailed analysis and interpretation.