Young men's endorsement and pursuit of appearance ideals: The prospective role of appearance investment

Body Image 16 (2016) 10–16

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Body Image journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bodyimage

Young men’s endorsement and pursuit of appearance ideals: The prospective role of appearance investment Johanna Kling a,∗ , Rachel F. Rodgers b,c , Ann Frisén a a b c

Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA Laboratoire de Stress Traumatique (EA 4560), Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 4 March 2015 Received in revised form 10 October 2015 Accepted 10 October 2015 Keywords: Men’s body image Appearance investment Leanness Media-ideal internalization Muscularity

Appearance investment has been proposed as a risk factor for the development of body dissatisfaction. Despite this, few studies have explored men’s investment in their appearance. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine appearance investment as a prospective predictor of young men’s endorsement and pursuit of appearance ideals. A community sample of 187 young men participated in a study at ages 21 and 24. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that appearance investment, as hypothesized, was a prospective predictor of increases in leanness orientation, media-ideal internalization, and muscularity behaviors. However, appearance investment did not predict increases in muscularity dissatisfaction. The present findings highlight the importance of including appearance investment in sociocultural models of the development of men’s body image, and suggest that appearance investment may be an important target variable to consider when designing body dissatisfaction prevention and intervention programs tailored to young men. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction Body dissatisfaction in terms of dissatisfaction with muscularity has been identified as a pervasive concern among young adult men in their twenties (McArdle & Hill, 2009; McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2004), and is associated with various unhealthy body altering behaviors such as steroid use and dieting (e.g., Cafri et al., 2005; Parent & Moradi, 2011). However, so far, very little research attention has focused on the role that young men’s personal investment in appearance (that is the degree of psychological importance placed upon appearance) might play in body image outcomes. In the cognitive-behavioral model of body image (Cash, 2011), appearance investment is a central component. Accordingly, among women, appearance investment has been linked to both body dissatisfaction and strivings to attain unrealistic body ideals (e.g., Boersma & Jarry, 2013; Ip & Jarry, 2008; Prichard & Tiggemann, 2011). However, despite the centrality of appearance investment in Cash’s (2011) model and the findings among women, men’s appearance investment is still an under-examined area (Fawkner, 2012). Furthermore, the few existing studies exploring the

∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, Box 500, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden. Tel.: +46 317861842. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Kling). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.10.001 1740-1445/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

relationship between appearance investment and body image outcomes in men have used cross-sectional designs, and longitudinal studies are lacking. Since early adulthood is an important time in the formation of body image (McPherson, 2012), studies increasing the understanding of young men’s body dissatisfaction are crucial. Hence, the present study aimed to examine appearance investment as a prospective predictor of increases in young men’s leanness orientation, internalization of media-ideals, and drive for muscularity. Body Image during Young Adulthood While the period of highest vulnerability for body dissatisfaction has been suggested to be youth (Bucchianeri, Arikian, Hannan, Eisenberg, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2013; Frisén, Lunde, & Berg, 2015), it has also been proposed that body image continues to evolve of the course of young adulthood and throughout the lifespan (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2004; Tiggemann, 2004). There are a number of reasons why body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors might increase among young men in their twenties. Firstly, biological changes during that time period include the decrease of base rate metabolism, which is associated with loss of lean mass (Paulev, 2004). These changes are likely compounded by the adoption of more sedentary lifestyles by young men entering the work force (McPherson, 2012). These biological and behavioral changes in young adulthood make move young men further away from the

J. Kling et al. / Body Image 16 (2016) 10–16

muscular and lean ideals. In addition, pressure towards muscularity has been increasing over the past years in Sweden, as reflected by increases in gym memberships and releases of fitness books (Iwarsson, 2012). Thus, many young men might feel increasing pressures to achieve a muscular physique.

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associated with increases in muscularity dissatisfaction and related behaviors, and, perhaps to a lesser extent, a leanness orientation. Internalization of Media-Ideals

Within the framework of the cognitive-behavioral model of body image, different types of appearance investment have been proposed (Cash, 2011). In the present study, appearance investment refers to the motivational salience (i.e., general appearance orientation), and concerns the degree of importance placed uponand attention paid to appearance, as well as behaviors related to maintaining or improving aspects of appearance. Hence, motivational appearance investment includes both the personal emphasis placed on looking good compared with internalized social standards, as well as appearance-related behaviors such as buying nice clothes and grooming (Cash, 2000). It has previously been proposed that more benign forms of appearance investment (such as motivational appearance investment) might not necessarily be maladaptive or have negative effects on body image (Cash, 2005). However, in a society in which appearance is emphasized as a core aspect of identity, and yet the beauty ideal is generally unattainable, (e.g., Furnham & Swami, 2012; Gill, Henwood, & McLean, 2005), investing heavily in one’s appearance may be a risk factor for excessive preoccupations around appearance, and a risk for developing behaviors such as steroid use and excessive exercise aiming to move one’s appearance closer to the ideal. Accordingly, among young women, even more benign forms of appearance investment have shown strong associations with unhealthy practices such as dieting and exercise dependence (e.g., Chang, Jarry, & Kong, 2014; Lamarche & Gammage, 2012). Hence, investigating motivational appearance investment in relation to different forms of body dissatisfaction among young men is an important focus.

Young men’s internalization of lean and muscular, and largely unattainable, ideals has been generally found to be a risk factor for the onset of body dissatisfaction (Leit, Gray, & Pope, 2002; Thompson, Shaefer, & Menzel, 2012). Sociocultural theory posits that internalization of media-ideals occurs through the repeated exposure to media images and the adoption of social appearance standards as a personal standard (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). These internalized standards then lead to negative self-evaluations and behaviors aiming to change one’s appearance to more closely resemble the social ideal. Reviews of the effects of media exposure have suggested that the magnitude of the effects of media exposure may be moderated by participants’ characteristics including the internalization of media ideals (Blond, 2008). Still, little is known regarding the factors that might influence young men’s internalization of media-ideals or why some men seem particularly affected by these concerns (Diedrichs, 2012). Results from a meta-analytic review of media influences on female body dissatisfaction suggested that vulnerability to media-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction might be increased by psychological variables such as the degree of investment in appearance (Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002). Consistent with this, Hargreaves and Tiggemann (2009) revealed that, among young men, appearance investment was associated with greater vulnerability to body dissatisfaction when exposed to images of the muscular ideal. Thus, men with high levels of appearance investment felt less physically attractive and less satisfied with their bodies after exposure to the muscular ideal compared to men with lower investment in appearance (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2009). However, so far no studies have explored the relationship between appearance investment and media-ideal internalization prospectively.

Muscular and Lean Body Ideals

Muscularity Behaviors

To be dissatisfied with one’s appearance, as well as to place importance upon appearance, has stereotypically been associated with women, and appearance investment has thus previously been associated with traditional femininity (Cash, Melnyk, & Hrabosky, 2004). However, more recently, masculinity has become similarly rooted in appearance norms, and men are increasingly concerned about their appearance (Frith & Gleeson, 2004; Ricciardelli, 2011). One possible explanation for men’s growing appearance concerns is the fact that, over the past years, the male ideals presented in media have become progressively more lean and muscular (Leit, Pope, & Gray, 2001; Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, & Borowiecki, 1999). Also, lifestyle magazines targeting men contain a greater number of images that depict a muscular body ideal compared to magazines intended for general audiences (Lanzieri & Cook, 2013). This muscular ideal is associated with an increased preference for having a muscular body among young men (Frederick et al., 2007; McCreary, 2012), which, in turn, has shown distinct associations with behaviors aimed at achieving a body closer to this ideal (Tod, Edwards, & Hall, 2013). In addition to the muscular ideal, the importance of leanness among young men has been highlighted in previous studies (e.g., Smolak & Murnen, 2008; Tod et al., 2013). Generally, the idealized sociocultural cues of leanness seem to be somewhat less prominent than those of the muscular ideal (Lanzieri & Cook, 2013). However, the dual pathway model that highlights both leanness and muscularity concerns as important components has received support (Jones & Crawford, 2005). To date, it still remains unclear whether young men’s investment in appearance might be

As described above, theoretical models of the development of body image concerns and body change behaviors predict that internalization of the male muscular ideal and resulting body dissatisfaction could be related to increased body change behaviors aimed at bringing one’s appearance closer to the media ideal (Cash, 2011; Tod & Edwards, 2013). Consistent with this, among young men, appearance investment has been associated with increased drive for muscularity (Davis, Karvinen, & McCreary, 2005; Tod & Edwards, 2013). For instance, Tod and Edwards (2013) found that in young men, appearance investment displayed a medium effect association with the wish to be more muscular. Also, appearance investment was also distinctively associated with the behavioral engagement, e.g., working out and using supplements, to become more muscular (Tod & Edwards, 2013). However, previous studies on the relationship between appearance investment and drive for muscularity have been limited by their cross-sectional designs. Young men’s desires and efforts to attain a muscular and/or lean body have been closely associated with negative outcomes such as eating disorder symptomology (Olivardia, Pope, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2004), unhealthy exercising behavior (Hale, Roth, DeLong, & Briggs, 2010; Tod et al., 2013), and steroid use (Tod, Hall, & Edwards, 2012). Hence, the development of etiological models supported by prospective data is crucial to advancing our understanding of the pathways leading to body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors in young men. Ultimately, this understanding could contribute to inform body dissatisfaction prevention and intervention programs aimed at this population.

Appearance Investment

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Aim The aim of the present study was to examine appearance investment as a prospective predictor of increases in young men’s leanness orientation, internalization of media-ideals (general and athletic), and drive for muscularity (dissatisfaction and behaviors). We hypothesized that higher levels of appearance investment at age 21 would predict increases in leanness orientation, internalization of media-ideals, and drive for muscularity at age 24. Method Participants and Procedure A community sample of young Swedish men participated in this study. They were recruited from a longitudinal body image study in which they took part in the fifth and sixth waves of data collection. Participants were originally, in the first wave of data collection, recruited from primary schools in different socioeconomic areas in the city of Gothenburg. At the present waves, the participants were contacted by postal mail or e-mail, depending on the contact details they had provided during their previous participation. Participants were reminded about the purposes and procedures of the study and informed that their participation was voluntary. Those who consented to participate answered an online questionnaire. At both time points, participants were offered a movie ticket in compensation, which was posted to them after completing the survey. Prior to data collection, the study was approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Gothenburg. A total of 276 participants completed the Time 1 questionnaire. At the Time 2 follow-up three years later, 186 (67%) of the men chose to participate. The dropout appeared random since analyses showed that the participants who dropped out did not differ from the ones that remained in any demographical aspect or on any of the main variables in the present study. Participants’ mean age was 21.3 years (SD = 0.49) at Time 1, and 24.4 years (SD = 0.51) at Time 2. At Time 1, a slight majority (55%) reported being a student (at university or equivalent), and at Time 2, a minority (43%) reported being a student (at university or equivalent). At both time points, 95% of the participants reported being heterosexual. Mean BMI was 23.2 (SD = 3.14) at Time 1, and 23.8 (SD = 3.25) at Time 2. All measures were administered at both Time 1 and Time 2, except the appearance investment measure, which was only administered at Time 1. Measures Appearance investment. To assess appearance investment the Appearance Orientation subscale of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire – Appearance Scales (MBSRQAS; Cash, 2000) was used. The Appearance Orientation subscale includes 12 items evaluating the degree of cognitive importance of, and attention to appearance, as well as behaviors related to maintaining or improving aspects of the appearance. Items are rated on a 5-point scale from definitely disagree to definitely agree, with higher scores indicating greater importance and attention placed on looks and more engagement in appearance enhancing behaviors. Examples of items are “It is important that I always look good” and “I check my appearance in a mirror whenever I can.” The MBSRQ is one of the most widely used measures of body image, and the scores from this scale have previously shown acceptable internal reliability (Yanover & Thompson, 2008). Since the survey was administered in Swedish, a Swedish version of the Appearance Orientation subscale of the MBSRQ-AS by Brdaric and Carroll (2006) was used. In the study by Brdaric and Carroll (2006), the Appearance

Orientation subscale displayed an internal consistency of ˛ = .81. In our sample, the internal consistency of the Appearance Orientation subscale was ˛ = .88. Leanness orientation. Leanness orientation was assessed using the Drive for Leanness Scale (DLS; Smolak & Murnen, 2008). The DLS consists of 6 items measuring positive attitudes towards lean, toned bodies. An example item is “When a person’s body is hard and firm, it says they are well-disciplined”. The items are rated on a 6-point scale from never to always, with higher scores indicating higher leanness orientation. In the present study, a Swedish version of the DLS was used (Holmqvist Gattario et al., 2015). In the study by Holmqvist Gattario et al. (2015), the DLS displayed an internal consistency of ˛ = .86. In our sample the internal consistency was ˛ = .89 at both time points. Internalization of media ideals. To assess the degree to which individuals aspired to look like media images, two subscales of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire – 3 (SATAQ-3; Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004) were used: Internalization General and Internalization Athletic. The 9-item Internalization General subscale assesses endorsement and acceptance of media messages that present unrealistic ideal images (e.g., “I would like my body to look like the people who are in movies”), and the 5-item Internalization Athletic subscale assesses endorsement and acceptance of an athletic body ideal (e.g., “I wish I looked as athletic as sports stars”). The items are rated on a 5-point scale from definitely disagree to definitely agree, with higher scores indicating a higher degree of internalization. Since the survey was distributed in Swedish, the subscales were translated and back translated by two different researchers with experience in body image research and translating between English and Swedish. The SATAQ-3 has previously demonstrated good internal consistency among males (Karazsia & Crowther, 2008). In our sample the internal consistency for the Internalization General subscale was ˛ = .91 at both Time 1 and 2. For Internalization Athletic it was ˛ = .82 at Time 1, and ˛ = .80 at Time 2. Drive for muscularity. Muscularity dissatisfaction and behaviors were assessed using the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS; McCreary, Sasse, Saucier, & Dorsch, 2004), which is a measure of muscle-oriented attitudes and behaviors. The scale consists of two subscales, Muscularity-Oriented Body Image Dissatisfaction (Muscularity Dissatisfaction) and Muscularity-Oriented Behaviors (Muscularity Behaviors). The Muscularity Dissatisfaction subscale contains 7 items, for instance “I wish that I were more muscular”, and the Muscularity Behaviors subscale contains 7 items such as “I lift weights to build up muscle.” The items are rated on a 6-point scale from always to never. Before scoring the items are reversed so that higher scores indicate higher drive for muscularity. As with the DLS, a Swedish version of the DMS by Holmqvist Gattario et al. (2015) was used. The Swedish version of the DMS has displayed good internal consistency (˛ = .85; Holmqvist Gattario et al., 2015), and in our sample the internal consistency for the Muscularity Dissatisfaction subscale was ˛ = .89 at Time 1, and ˛ = .91 at Time 2. For the Muscularity Behaviors subscale the internal consistency was ˛ = .86 at Time 1, and ˛ = .89 at Time 2. Body mass index (BMI). Self-reported weight and height were used to assess body mass index (kg/m2 ). Data Analytic Strategy First, we examined all variables for normality and since the Muscularity Behaviors variable presented an important departure from normality at both Time 1 and Time 2 it was transformed using a

J. Kling et al. / Body Image 16 (2016) 10–16

log10 transformation. Secondly, in order to explore the predictive role of appearance investment, we conducted a correlational analysis to examine the relationships between the variables. Thereafter, five hierarchical multiple regressions were carried out. Dependent variables were Time 2 Leanness Orientation, Internalization General, Internalization Athletic, Muscularity Dissatisfaction, and Muscularity Behaviors. In each of the five regression models, baseline variables (i.e., Time 1 Leanness Orientation, Internalization General, Internalization Athletic, Muscularity Dissatisfaction, or Muscularity Behaviors respectively) and BMI were entered in the first step in order to control for the impact of these variables on the dependent variables. Time 1 Appearance Investment was entered in the second step. BMI was controlled for since it previously has been associated with different body image outcomes among males, such as body dissatisfaction and muscularity concerns (e.g., Jones & Crawford, 2005; Paxton, Eisenberg, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2006). Since among men, there often exists a curvilinear relationship between BMI and body dissatisfaction, in that those who are underweight and overweight are more likely to report dissatisfaction compared to those of average weight (Fawkner, 2012), we also performed the regressions including a quadratic BMI*BMI variable. All analyses were conducted using SPSS 21 and the alpha value was set to .05. Missing data was handled using listwise deletion.

Table 1 Range, means, and standard deviations for the main variables at Time 1 and Time 2.

Leanness Orientation Time 1 Leanness Orientation Time 2 Internalization General Time 1 Internalization General Time 2 Internalization Athletic Time 1 Internalization Athletic Time 2 Muscularity Dissatisfaction Time 1 Muscularity Dissatisfaction Time 2 Muscularity Behaviors Time 1 Muscularity Behaviors Time 2

Leanness Orientation Time 1 Leanness Orientation Time 2 Internalization General Time 1 Internalization General Time 2 Internalization Athletic Time 1 Internalization Athletic Time 2 Muscularity Dissatisfaction Time 1 Muscularity Dissatisfaction Time 2 Muscularity Behaviors Time 1 Muscularity Behaviors Time 2 *

Descriptive Analyses

** ***

The Role of Appearance Investment Table 3 presents the results from the five hierarchical regressions analyses performed to examine appearance investment as a

Range

Mean (SD)

6–36 6–36 9–45 9–45 5–25 5–25 7–42 7–42 7–42 7–42

21.5 (6.08) 20.6 (6.31) 22.6 (8.03) 21.0 (8.11) 14.5 (4.44) 15.9 (4.08) 21.9 (7.76) 20.8 (8.19) 14.4 (6.70) 14.2 (7.13)

Table 2 Correlations (Pearson’s r) between Appearance Investment, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Time 1 and Time 2 Leanness Orientation, Media-Ideal Internalization (General and Athletic), and Drive for Muscularity (Dissatisfaction and Behaviors).

Results

Table 1 presents the range, means, and standard deviations for the main variables at Time 1 and Time 2. Participants displayed a (non-significant) decrease on all variables from Time 1 to Time 2, except for Internalization Athletic for which a significant increase was found using a paired sample t-test, t(175) = −4.96, p < .001, d = −0.33. Table 2 presents bivariate correlations between Time 1 Appearance Investment and the main variables at Time 1 and Time 2. All correlations were significant, ranging from r = .20 to r = .54.

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Appearance Investment

BMI

.38*** .33*** .54*** .45*** .43*** .40*** .27*** .20** .28*** .30***

.11 .16* .07 .03 .12 .07 −.09 −.14 .07 .05

p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

prospective predictor of increases in the outcome variables. When performing the analyses including the quadratic BMI*BMI term, quasi-identical findings were obtained, and they are therefore not presented. When predicting Time 2 Leanness Orientation, controlling for Time 1 Leanness Orientation and BMI, Time 1 Appearance Investment made a significant contribution to the explained variance, which increased from 38% to 41%, F(3, 169) = 38.8, p < .001, ˇ = .16, p = .015. When predicting Time 2 Internalization General, controlling for Time 1 Internalization General and BMI, Time 1 Appearance Investment also made a significant contribution to the explained variance, which increased from 43% to 45%, F(3, 158) = 42.6, p < .001, ˇ = .17, p = .018. Regarding Time 2 Internalization Athletic, when

Table 3 Results from the five multiple regressions. Dependent Variable

Step

Predictors

B

SE B

ˇ

F

df

R2

R2

***

Leanness Orientation Time 2

1 1 2

Leanness Orientation Time 1 BMI Appearance Investment

.61 .042 .24

.062 .018 .098

.60 .14* .16*

53.6*** 38.8***

2, 170 3, 169

.38 .41

.021

Internalization General Time 2

1 1 2

Internalization General Time 1 BMI Appearance Investment

.69 .008 .23

.064 .016 .094

.65*** .032 .17*

59.3*** 42.6***

2, 159 3, 158

.43 .45

.020

Internalization Athletic Time 2

1 1 2

Internalization Athletic Time 1 BMI Appearance Investment

.54 .003 .29

.062 .015 .080

.57*** .013 .24***

39.2*** 32.2***

2, 165 3, 164

.32 .37

.049

.71 −.028 −.028

.062 .019 .10

***

68.2*** 45.2***

2, 165 3, 164

.67 .45

.001

.69 .003 .045

.067 .004 .019

53.4*** 38.4***

2, 159 3, 158

.40 .42

.020

Muscularity Dissatisfaction Time 2

1 1 2

Muscularity Dissatisfaction Time 1 BMI Appearance Investment

Muscularity Behaviors Time 2

1 1 2

Muscularity Behaviors Time 1 BMI Appearance Investment

.66 −.084 −.016

.63*** .050 .15*

Note: Given that the Muscularity Behaviors variable was subjected to a log10 transformation, the interpretation of the coefficients for BMI and Appearance Investment should be Beta = 10ˇ . * p < .05. *** p < .001.

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controlling for Time 1 Internalization Athletic and BMI, Time 1 Appearance Investment made a significant contribution to the explained variance, displaying an increase from 32% to 37%, F(3, 164) = 32.3, p < .001, ˇ = .24, p < .001. When predicting Time 2 Muscularity Behaviors, controlling for Time 1 Muscularity Behaviors and BMI, Appearance Investment made a significant contribution to the explained variance, with an increase from 40% to 42%, F(3, 158) = 38.4, p < .001, ˇ = .15, p = .020. However, regarding Time 2 Muscularity Dissatisfaction, Time 1 Appearance Investment did not make a significant contribution to the explained variance when controlling for Time 1 Muscularity Dissatisfaction and BMI.

Discussion The aim of the present study was to examine appearance investment as a prospective predictor of increases in young men’s leanness orientation, internalization of media-ideals (general and athletic), and drive for muscularity (dissatisfaction and behaviors). We hypothesized that higher levels of appearance investment at age 21 would predict increased leanness orientation, internalization, and drive for muscularity at age 24. Overall, our findings support the role of appearance investment as a prospective predictor of increases in the endorsement and pursuit of the lean and muscular ideal, and suggest that appearance investment plays an important role in the development and maintenance of body ideals and body change behaviors among young men. Consistent with the hypotheses, findings revealed that participants with high appearance investment at age 21 reported modest but significant increases in leanness orientation, media-ideal internalization (general and athletic), and muscularity behaviors at age 24. Appearance investment has previously been proposed to increase vulnerability to sociocultural messages and the perceived need to improving one’s appearance (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2009). Hargreaves and Tiggemann (2009) found that men with high levels of appearance investment felt less physical attractive and less satisfied with their bodies after exposure to the muscular ideal compared to men with lower investment in appearance. Our findings support this result, suggesting that appearance investment may play a role in increases in young men’s endorsement and pursuit of appearance ideals. Further, despite being an important component of the cognitive behavioral model of body image (Cash, 2011), to date, appearance investment has not generally been included in sociocultural models of men’s body image-related attitudes and behaviors (e.g., Jones & Crawford, 2005; Tylka, 2011). However, the findings from the present study suggest that this might be an important concept to include in order to better understand the development of men’s body image. Even though, historically, there always have been men invested in their appearances (i.e., through fashion and grooming), the male body is now being more exploited and objectified than ever before (Ricciardelli & Williams, 2012). Furthermore, there have been increases in the commodification of male bodies (portrayed as attainable through the purchasing of products and services and in return supplying social capital), in particular athletic male bodies, in the last decades (Gill et al., 2005; Miller, 1998). These increases have in turn been associated with media representations of the male body as an “identity project” (i.e., the sense that the self is displayed mainly through the appearance; Boni, 2002; Gill et al., 2005). These changes may have led to increases in appearance investment among young men and associated body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors. Since men’s leanness orientation, as well as internalization of media-ideals, previously have been closely associated with unhealthy behaviors such as eating problems, unhealthy exercise,

and steroid use (e.g., Cafri et al., 2005; Thompson et al., 2012; Tod et al., 2012), strategies for preventions are essential. Early adulthood is an important time in the formation of body image (McPherson, 2012) and hence, young men are a central group to target. Our findings suggest that appearance investment might be a useful concept to consider when designing interventions for young men. Since body dissatisfaction interventions directed at young men are lacking, the development of empirically-based efficacious programs is an important future focus. One way to counter body dissatisfaction among young men could be to encourage the questioning of the importance of appearance investment, for instance by using media literacy strategies or cognitive dissonance-based interventions. Although the present results were overall in line with our hypotheses, there was one exception. Contrary to our expectations, our findings did not reveal a prospective relationship between appearance investment and muscularity dissatisfaction. In the present study, appearance investment was referred to the motivational appearance investment, which is a type of appearance investment that has been proposed to be a more benign form (Cash, 2005). Perhaps a measure of appearance investment including the more maladaptive self-evaluative aspect would have indicated a relationship between appearance investment and muscularity dissatisfaction, as well as stronger relationships with the other outcomes including leanness orientation and internalization of media-ideals. However, it may also be that young men, who experience high appearance investment, engage in muscle building behaviors and body change strategies that enable them to establish a satisfaction with their muscularity. Over time, however, maintaining an appearance that is consistent with the muscular ideal may prove increasingly difficult, and appearance investment may emerge as a predictor of muscularity dissatisfaction later in life. Consistent with this, it has been suggested that the predictors of body dissatisfaction among men differ over developmental periods (Paxton et al., 2006), and it would be interesting to investigate the role of appearance investment in relation to body image dissatisfaction among males at other developmental periods, such as later in adulthood. In addition, while levels of body image variables in our sample overall remained stable between age 21 and 24, levels of internalization of the athletic ideal significantly increased. Potential explanations for this include both changes in sociocultural pressure to resemble the athletic ideal, and changes in receptivity to social messages. The steady growth in social pressure to attain an increasing muscular ideal (e.g., Iwarsson, 2012), may, potentially, have led to changes in internalization over the course of three years. Another likely explanation involves an increased focus on athleticism during young adulthood, which in turn may be explained by the conjunction of developmental changes in media consumption choices resulting in greater exposure to the athletic ideal, as well as biological changes as previously described (McPherson, 2012). However, this would need to be further explored in future studies. Our study presents a number of limitations including the dropout rate across time-points. Still, the drop-out appeared random since participants that chose not to participate at both waves did not differ from the ones that remained in any demographical aspect or on any of the main variables in the present study. Another limitation includes the use of self-reported height and weight, which was used to calculate BMI. In addition, it would have been useful to include a measure of dissatisfaction with body fat, as well as measures of actual muscle mass and body fat in order to further distinguish the unique role of appearance investment. Similarly, we used a version of SATAQ-3 that was not specifically tailored to male body image, but modifications are primarily suggested in the Pressure subscale (Karazsia & Crowther, 2008), which was not included in the present study. Furthermore, while the predictive

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strength of appearance investment in this study was significant the effect sizes were small, and this should be kept in mind when interpreting the results. Finally, although a longitudinal design with two waves of measurement has advantages over cross-sectional designs in several respects such as controlling for baseline levels, as well as a reduced confounding of age and cohort effects (Singer & Willett, 2003), it would have been interesting to assess the variables with three or more waves of study. This was unfortunately not possible in the present study as the variables of interest were only measured over two waves. Future studies could benefit from investigating the prospective influence of appearance investment over more than two time periods in order to more efficiently investigate the prospective trajectories. It should, however, also be noted that our study presents several strengths, including the use of two time points instead of one, as well as the use of a community sample of this age group instead of solely a student sample. In conclusion, the present study suggests that appearance investment may constitute a risk for the endorsement and pursuit of culturally-promoted appearance ideals among young men, and it also stresses the usefulness of including appearance investment in sociocultural models of men’s body image. The findings further indicate that appearance investment may be an important target variable to consider when designing intervention and prevention programs tailored to young men.

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