Women aren't the only ones who worry about the way their bodies look: men are just as obsessed. Research indicates that many men fret over the size of their pecs. Researchers from Boston's McLean Hospital compared 30 normal weightlifters to 24 men with muscle dysmorphia—a disorder defined by a pathological preoccupation with increasing muscularity. They discovered that men with muscle dysmorphia often suffered from shame, embarrassment, and impaired social and occupational functioning.
Like people who have eating disorders, these men typically perceived their appearance inaccurately—they thought they looked puny, when in fact they were extremely muscular. As a result of their misperception and embarrassment, the men avoided activities, places, and people; established strict weightlifting and dietary regimens; and relinquished well-paying professional jobs to work at gymnasiums where they would have more time to lift weights.
"This is a widespread, secret phenomenon," explains Harrison G. Pope Jr., co-author of the American Journal of Psychiatry study and a Harvard University psychology professor. "In our society, it's easier for women to talk about body image concerns. Real men aren't supposed to fuss about their bodies."
But real men do, according to one study, which was conducted by Pope's team in conjunction with researchers from the University of Innsbruck in Austria and the Salpetriere Hospital in Paris. This study, also published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, focused on college-aged men in Austria, France and the United States. Results showed that men from all three countries wanted a body that was on average 28 pounds more muscular than their own, and they believed that women preferred a male body that was up to 30 pounds more muscular. But another pilot study by the same authors found that women actually preferred a "normal male body without added muscle."
Pope, who co-authored The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession, cites studies conducted by Psychology Today to evidence males' changing perceptions of their bodies. According to the study, he said, some 67 percent of the male participants said they were dissatisfied with their bodies.
The researchers believe that these types of perceptions might provide an explanation for the significant rise in disorders like muscle dysmorphia, and are conducting research focused on adolescent boys in hopes of discovering preventive measures.
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