Abstract
Body image concerns are becoming more prevalent in males. Discrepancies between actual and ideal body muscularity and thinness have been studied from a pathological perspective whereby perceiving the body as discrepant from an internalized ideal is associated with body dissatisfaction, negative emotions, and harmful body-altering behaviors. It is unclear if agreement among actual and ideal self-perceptions is associated with positive emotion in males. The present study examined the associations between actual and ideal congruence and discrepancies in muscularity and thinness, and two facets of pride (i.e., authentic and hubristic pride) in male adults. Participants (n = 294; Mage = 34.80 years; MBMI = 27.31 kg/m2) completed a cross-sectional self-report survey. Results from polynomial regressions indicated that actual and ideal self-perceptions of muscularity and thinness were significant predictors of both authentic (R2 = .37 and .20) and hubristic pride (R2 = .33 and .19), respectively. Response surface values demonstrated that extremely high or low scores that were congruent for muscularity (a2 = .35 and .40) and thinness (a2 = .18 and .18) perceptions were associated with higher reports of authentic and hubristic pride. These findings demonstrated that congruence in actual and ideal self-perceptions contribute to feelings of pride, suggesting interventions that promote actual and ideal self-perception congruence may be important for fostering positive emotional experiences in males.
Recently, body image researchers have emphasized the importance of moving beyond the disproportionate focus on females, while broadening the scope of work to include both positive and negative dimensions of body image (Ricciardelli, Caltabiano, & D’Antuono, 2018; Webb, Wood-Barcalow, & Tylka, 2015). As a result of the historically dominant areas of interest, an understanding of positive perceptions of the body in males has received relatively little attention. Positive body image is a multidimensional construct comprised of facets that reciprocally influence and collectively contribute to positive body experiences (Tylka & Wood-Baraclow, 2015; Wood-Barcalow, Tylka, & Augustus-Horvath, 2010). It is important to study the different facets of positive body image because they are related to a variety of physical and psychological health and well-being indicators (Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015). Body-related pride, an affective dimension of positive body image, is a positive emotion that stems from effortful goal achievement with respect to the body (e.g., engaging in physical activity) or presenting with socially valued characteristics (e.g., appearing muscular and attractive). Researchers have labeled the different facets of pride as authentic pride (elicited in response to specific behaviors, e.g., I am fit because I trained hard), and hubristic pride (stems from a feeling of superiority in global aspects of the self, e.g., I am a physically fit person; Tracy & Robins, 2004). Despite the implications for health and well-being, little research has been conducted to examine antecedents of body-related pride specifically in males.
The process model of self-conscious emotions (Tracy & Robins, 2004) provides a theoretical framework for understanding antecedents of authentic and hubristic pride. Based on this model, feelings of pride arise when an individual evaluates his or her actual self (i.e., who he or she currently is/how he or she currently appears) as congruent with his or her ideal self (i.e., who he or she would ideally like to be/how he or she would ideally like to appear). There is initial evidence supporting the central tenets of this model within body image research. Gilchrist, Sabiston, and Kowalski (2019) reported that greater congruence between actual and ideal self-perceptions of fitness was associated with greater anticipated authentic pride among young adult males and females. Greater congruence between actual weight and ideal weight was also reported to be associated with greater authentic pride among adult females (Castonguay, Brunet, Ferguson, & Sabiston, 2012). The findings provide preliminary support for the theoretical tenet that congruence between actual and ideal self-representations of fitness and weight is associated with experiences of pride (Tracy & Robins, 2004).
Weight and fitness are not the only body-related characteristics associated with affective body image among males. Evaluations of muscularity and thinness are both independent predictors of body image in adolescent and adult males (Jones & Crawford, 2005; Kelley, Neufeld, & Musher-Eizenman, 2010; Klimek, Murray, Brown, Gonzales, & Blashill, 2018; Tylka, 2011). The degree of muscularity that males perceive as ideal is in part influenced by the mesomorphic body (e.g., highly muscular and lean) perpetuated in mainstream media (Daniel & Bridges, 2010; Tylka, 2011). Indeed, a large proportion of males indicate that they would ideally like to be more muscular than what they perceive themselves to display currently (Frederick et al., 2007; Ralph-Nearman & Filik, 2018; Tiggemann, Martins, & Kirkbride, 2007). Concurrently, males express that they do not want to be underweight or too thin, but do not want to be overweight (Fallon, Harris, & Johnson, 2014; Grossbard, Neighbors, & Larimer, 2011; Phillips & de Man, 2010; Presnell, Bearman, & Stice, 2004). Discrepancies between actual and ideal perceptions of muscularity and thinness are related to problems with psychological and emotional well-being in males, including body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, compulsive exercise, supplement use, and disordered eating (Edwards, Tod, & Molnar, 2014; Eik-Nes, Austin, Blashill, Murray, & Calzo, 2018; Grossbard, Lee, Neighbors, & Larimer, 2009; Mayo & George, 2014; Olivardia, Pope, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2004). While the more negative outcomes associated with discrepancies are clear, the extent to which congruence among these domains is associated with positive emotions has not yet been examined.
The current study investigated the relationship between actual and ideal self-perceptions related to body muscularity and thinness and the two facets of authentic and hubristic body-related pride. Aligned with appropriate methodological considerations for discrepancy scores (Cafri, van den Berg, & Brannick, 2010; Castonguay et al., 2012; Shanock, Baran, Gentry, Pattison, & Heggestad, 2010), three specific research questions were advanced pertaining to how the congruence between actual and ideal selves, the direction of discrepancy between actual and ideal selves (i.e., whether actual self-perceptions were greater or less than ideal self-perceptions), and the magnitude of discrepancy between actual and ideal selves are associated with authentic and hubristic pride. Consistent with the highly muscular ideal (Daniel & Bridges, 2010), it was hypothesized that greater congruence between actual and ideal muscularity would be positively, linearly associated with authentic and hubristic pride among a sample of males. A nonlinear relationship between thinness congruence and authentic and hubristic pride was hypothesized, such that males who report on the extremes of thinness (either very strongly agree and very strongly disagree they are thin) would have lower levels of pride (Grossbard et al., 2011). Based on the negative psychological outcomes associated with muscularity discrepancies (Grossbard et al., 2009; Mayo & George, 2014), it was hypothesized that males whose perceived actual muscularity was less than what they would ideally like to exhibit would experience lower levels of authentic and hubristic pride. The direction of the thinness discrepancy was hypothesized to be irrelevant, as both overweight and underweight males have reported elevated levels of body dissatisfaction (Phillips & de Man, 2010). Finally, informed by empirical evidence from females (Castonguay et al., 2012) and the process model of self-conscious emotions (Tracy & Robins, 2004), it was hypothesized that authentic and hubristic pride would increase as actual and ideal muscularity and thinness discrepancies decrease.
Methods
Participants and Procedures
Following university research ethics board approval, participants (n = 314) were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to complete a questionnaire on “The relationship between body-related goals and self-conscious emotions.” Participants were provided compensation equivalent to U.S. minimum wage ($0.12/min). Amazon’s MTurk is an efficient and cost-effective platform for large-scale recruitment of a more heterogeneous sample than university samples (Buhrmester, Kwang, & Gosling, 2011). Inclusion criteria included male participants with over 100 completed surveys, who were able to read and respond to questions in English, identified as healthy with no history of diagnosed mental health disorders, and were not currently taking medication for mental health. After providing informed consent, participants reported demographic information (age, sex, height, weight, and ethnicity), actual and ideal perceptions of muscularity and thinness, and authentic and hubristic pride on a secure online survey.
Measures
Body mass index
Height (m) and weight (kg) were self-reported. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by dividing weight by height squared (kg/m2).
Self-discrepancies
Drawing from the actual and ideal body-related perceptions assessed in the Physical Self-Discrepancy Scale (Brunet, Sabiston, Castonguay, Bessette, & Ferguson, 2012), participants responded to four phrases in a modified scale to determine actual and ideal muscularity and thinness perceptions. These phrases were “I am currently thin/muscular” and “I would like to be thin/muscular.” Degree of agreement with the phrase was assessed on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 Strongly Disagree to 5 Strongly Agree.
Body-related authentic and hubristic pride
Body-related authentic and hubristic pride were measured using eight items from the Body and Appearance Self-Conscious Emotions Scale (BASES; Castonguay, Sabiston, Crocker, & Mack, 2014). The items were scored on a scale ranging from 1 Not at All to 5 Extremely. Examples of authentic pride phrases included “Proud that I have achieved my appearance goals” and “Proud about my effort to improve the way I look.” Examples of hubristic pride phrases included “Proud of my superior appearance” and “Proud that I am more attractive than others.” Scores from the BASES demonstrated high internal consistency (αAP = .93, αHP = .91) and discriminant validity from non-body-related pride scales (Castonguay et al., 2014).
Data Analysis
All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Version 23.0. Data were checked for inconsistencies, missing values, and violations of assumptions for multiple regression (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2013). Descriptive statistics and Pearson bivariate correlations were calculated.
For the main analysis, associations between actual and ideal body muscularity, thinness, and pride were examined through polynomial regressions with response surface values (Cafri et al., 2010; Edwards, 2002; Shanock et al., 2010). Rather than using a traditional difference score approach (Vartanian, 2012), polynomial regression circumvents a number of limitations associated with the use of difference scores, including the inability to assess the independent contributions of the actual and ideal self-representations as well as the inherent measurement error associated with using a single-item to represent multiple constructs (Cafri, Van den Berg, & Brannick, 2010; Edwards, 2002). Use of polynomial regressions with response surface values has been utilized in recent body-related emotion research (Castonguay et al., 2012; Gilchrist et al., 2019). First, the centered scores of actual (A) and ideal (I) perceptions were created, followed by a squared actual term (A × A), squared ideal term (I × I), and a cross-product of the actual and ideal terms (A × I). Four separate multiple regressions were conducted while controlling for age to examine the linear, nonlinear, and joint associations between muscularity and thinness congruence, discrepancies, and authentic and hubristic pride.
The linear and nonlinear relationships between congruent actual and ideal perceptions and authentic and hubristic pride were represented by response values a1 (b A + b I ) and a2 (bA×A + bA×I + bI×I), respectively. The relationship between the direction of discrepant actual and ideal perceptions and authentic and hubristic pride was represented by response value a3 (bA – bI), while the relationship between the degree of actual and ideal perception discrepancy and authentic and hubristic pride was represented by response value a4 (bA×A – bA×I + bI×I; Cafri et al., 2010; Castonguay et al., 2012; Gilchrist et al., 2019; Shanock et al., 2010).
Results
Three hundred and fourteen males completed the survey. Participants who exhibited extreme response bias (e.g., noticeable patterns in the surveys, all scoring as the lowest or highest values) or skipped the BASES (n = 20) were manually identified and removed. Participants in the final analytical sample (n = 294) were between the ages of 19 and 74 years (M = 34.8, SD = 10.71) and identified as White/Caucasian (n = 235; 79.9%), Black (e.g., African, Haitian, Jamaican, Somali; n = 28; 9.5%), and Latin American (n = 20; 6.8%). Participants who self-reported BMI (n = 237; 80.6%) were an average of 27.31 (SD = 4.27; range = 20.75–39.72) kg/m2, with 35.9% (n = 85) classified as normal weight, 37.1% (n = 88) classified as overweight, and 27.0% (n = 64) classified as obese (World Health Organization, 2000).
Descriptive statistics and correlations are presented in Table 1. The majority of participants reported discrepancies between their actual and ideal self-perceptions. Specifically, 68.4% (n = 201) endorsed a muscularity discrepancy (n = 175; 87.1% ideal > actual) and 69.0% (n = 203) endorsed a thinness discrepancy (n = 155; 76.4% ideal > actual). Polynomial regression and response surface values are presented in Table 2. Scores from both pride subscales demonstrated high internal consistency in the current study (αAP = .95, αHP = .96) and high intercorrelation (r = .86).
Score Ranges, Means, Standard Deviations, and Bivariate Correlation Coefficients of Age, Actual and Ideal Self-Perceptions, and Pride in Adult Male Participants.
Note. SD = standard deviation.
p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01.
Polynomial Regression With Response Surface Values Controlled for Age.
Note. b = unstandardized beta coefficient, SE = standard error. a1 = (b1 + b2), a2 = (b3 + b4 + b5), a3 = (b1 – b2), a4 = (b3 – b4 + b5).
p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01. ***p ≤ .001.
Actual and Ideal Muscularity Self-Perception
Actual and ideal muscularity perceptions explained 37% of the variance in body-related authentic pride and 33% of the variance in body-related hubristic pride. The nonlinear association (a2) between actual and ideal scores was significant, indicating that body-related authentic and hubristic pride were greatest when individuals had high or low scores on muscularity for both actual and ideal selves. Body-related authentic and hubristic pride were lowest when ideal muscularity was greater than actual muscularity (a3).
Actual and Ideal Thinness Self-Perception
Actual and ideal thinness perceptions explained 20% and 19% of the variance in body-related authentic and hubristic pride, respectively. The nonlinear association (a2) was significant, indicating that men with congruent thinness scores that were either high or low for both actual and ideal self-perceptions experienced the highest levels of body-related authentic and hubristic pride. Body-related authentic and hubristic pride decreased as the magnitude of the discrepancy between actual and ideal thinness perceptions increased (a4).
Discussion
Using the process model of self-conscious emotions (Tracy & Robins, 2004) as a framework, this research investigated the relationship between actual and ideal muscularity and thinness perceptions and the body-related self-conscious emotions of authentic and hubristic pride in a sample of males across the adult life span. These findings demonstrated that congruence and discrepancies in actual and ideal self-perceptions of muscularity and thinness are important correlates of positive emotions. These findings also highlighted the complexity of how perceptions of different body domains contribute to these emotions in males.
In contrast with the hypothesis, when actual and ideal muscularity perceptions were congruent and extreme (either very strongly agreed or disagreed), authentic and hubristic pride scores were highest. The finding that men who strongly agreed their actual and ideal self-perceptions were muscular reported higher pride is not surprising, since high muscularity is an essential feature of the mesomorphic ideal (Daniel & Bridges, 2010; Tylka, 2011). These men may have experienced high levels of authentic and hubristic pride because they perceived their muscularity to align with social norms. Although supported by theoretical tenets (Tracy & Robins, 2004, 2007), the finding that low and congruent muscular perceptions also related to high pride scores is novel and requires further inquiry. Internalization of the muscular ideal did not occur in all males (Karazsia & Crowther, 2009; Tylka, 2011). In the present study, only 1% of the sample endorsed congruence between strong disagreement with being muscular and wanting to be muscular. This prevalence coincides with the incidence rates of restrictive eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa) in adult males from the United States (Hudson, Hiripi, Pope, & Kessler, 2007). These findings may be reflective of a singular pursuit of thinness, such that not being muscular is advantageous for portraying a solely thin ideal in this subpopulation of males.
A similar finding for a curvilinear association with congruent scores for thinness was noted, such that authentic and hubristic pride were highest when actual and ideal thinness perceptions were congruent and extreme. High levels of pride in males who perceived themselves as thin and who wanted to be thin are consistent with a drive for thinness, evidenced by an increasing prevalence of restrictive intake behaviors in males (e.g., extreme dieting, laxative use, induced vomiting) and body dissatisfaction when males are overweight (Fernandez & Pritchard, 2012; Mitchison, Hay, Slewa-Younan, & Mond, 2014). These findings support the process model of self-conscious emotions (Tracy & Robins, 2004) and evidence from nonclinical (Pila, Solomon-Krakus, Egelton, & Sabiston, 2018) and disordered eating (Allan & Gross, 2012; Skårerud, 2007) female samples who associated successful restraint, weight control, and resultant appearance with feelings of body-related pride. Equivalently high levels of pride in those who strongly disagreed with being thin and wanting to be thin could be contingent on the interpretation of the term “thinness,” as this body-related feature has been represented in figure rating scales not only as the opposite of high adipose tissue but as the opposite of high muscularity as well (Tiggemann et al., 2007). Thinness may be associated with the absence of muscularity or overall size—an opposing feature to the mesomorphic ideal. It is important to recognize that how males interpreted and defined thinness in the absence of visual cues may not have been homogeneous in the present sample.
It is also important to explain why men who did not agree or disagree that their congruent actual and ideal perceptions were muscular/thin reported lower authentic and hubristic pride scores. In previous research, when actual and ideal weight perceptions were congruent in women, authentic pride decreased as weight increased (Castonguay et al., 2012). Despite meeting their own internalized standard, females whose congruent actual and ideal weights deviated from the societally perpetuated norm (thin ideal; Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999) experienced lower levels of authentic pride. In the current study, the associations were not linear (as hypothesized in the same way as explained for women; Castonguay et al., 2012), yet these findings suggested that males whose actual and ideal body perceptions did not reflect a particular facet of a body ideal reported lower authentic and hubristic pride. It may be that there are two extremes of male body ideals (although the mesomorphic ideal is more pervasive than the very thin ideal that may be associated with restrictive eating disorder psychopathology) and not meeting either is disruptive to positive emotional experiences. This is important to recognize, as it suggests interventions that encourage internalization of a more attainable body may still not promote optimal levels of authentic and hubristic pride if that body deviates from body ideals in males.
In support for the hypothesis on direction of discrepancy, authentic and hubristic pride were lower when individuals perceived themselves to exhibit less muscularity than they would ideally like to. The degree of this discrepancy was irrelevant, since men perceiving themselves as any less muscular than their ideal reported lower pride scores. The majority of the sample endorsed such a discrepancy, consistent with the large proportion of males reporting a desire to be more muscular (Frederick et al., 2007; Tiggemann et al., 2007). Internalization of the mesomorphic ideal perpetuated by mainstream media is thought to contribute to this desire (Morry & Staska, 2001; Tylka, 2011). A highly muscular internalized body ideal has been associated with a high drive for muscularity, body dissatisfaction, body shame, and muscle-building behaviors in men (Edwards et al., 2014). It is troubling that even minor deviance from one’s muscularity ideal resulted in low feelings of authentic and hubristic pride, reiterating the tremendous importance placed on appearance, and specifically muscular appearance, in males. Implementing body image programs tailored toward males endorsing muscularity discrepancies may be beneficial for improving authentic and hubristic pride, while mitigating the negative cognitive and behavioral ramifications associated with such discrepancies (Edwards et al., 2014; Mayo & George, 2014; Olivardia et al., 2004).
The direction of the actual and ideal discrepancy was not significantly associated with pride scores for perceptions of thinness. This is consistent with the hypothesis, such that males did not want to be underweight or too thin, but also did not want their large size to come from adipose tissue (Fallon et al., 2014; Phillips & de Man, 2010). Similar to the investigation of weight discrepancy by Castonguay et al. (2012), as the magnitude of thinness discrepancy increased, authentic and hubristic pride decreased. The overall amount of variance in authentic and hubristic pride explained by actual and ideal thinness perceptions was lower than the variance explained by discrepancies in muscularity, reiterating the emphasis placed on muscularity perceptions in male appearance (McCreary & Sasse, 2000; Pope, Phillips, & Olivardia, 2000).
The present study elucidated the independent contributions of muscularity and thinness congruence and discrepancy on feelings of authentic and hubristic pride. Conceptual overlap between extreme drive for muscularity (muscle dysmorphia) and thinness (anorexia nervosa) has been noted (Murray et al., 2012; Murray, Rieger, Touyz, & García, 2010). However, there is also evidence that males can simultaneously endorse both drives (Ralph-Nearman & Filik, 2018; Thompson & Cafri, 2007). The collective contributions of muscularity and thinness pursuits on affective body image domains remain unclear. Men high in both drive for muscularity and drive for thinness exhibited higher levels of disordered eating, albeit higher body esteem, than men high in only one drive (Kelley et al., 2010; Klimek et al., 2018). Congruence or discrepancy of both muscularity and thinness perceptions as opposed to just one may result in different levels of body-related self-conscious emotions. Understanding how these congruences independently and cumulatively contribute to pride may provide clearer insight into how body-related congruence and discrepancy impact engagement in health behaviors (Castonguay, Pila, Wrosch, & Sabiston, 2015).
Consistent with previous research (Gilchrist, Pila, Castonguay, Sabiston, & Mack, 2018; Mack, Kouali, Gilchrist, & Sabiston, 2015), body-related authentic and hubristic pride were highly correlated, and body congruence and discrepancy explained similar amounts of variance in both facets of pride. The similarities between measurements of body-related authentic and hubristic pride raise questions as to whether truly distinct types of pride are being captured. Holbrook, Piazza, and Fessler (2014a, 2014b) argue that while authentic pride is elicited by attributions of effort and ability, hubristic pride may not be a direct assessment of pride at all; rather, it is the recognition that disproportionate levels of pride have been displayed (Holbrook et al., 2014a, 2014b). Unlike authentic pride, the initial conceptualization of global hubristic pride has been considered maladaptive and related to poor functioning (Carver, Sinclair, & Johnson, 2010; Tracy & Robins, 2007). And yet, both facets of body-related pride have been positively associated with engagement in physical activity motivations and behaviors (Mack et al., 2015). Therefore, further research investigating the utility of this distinction at the body level is needed.
The study findings should be interpreted in light of its limitations. Online data collections are susceptible to self-selection bias and fraudulent survey responses (i.e., claiming to meet the inclusion criteria, submitting multiple survey responses to receive extra compensation; Dewitt et al., 2018; Wright, 2005). Although the present study used two reviewers to manually screen for duplicate or fraudulent responses, further research may be strengthened by employing both manual and automated algorithmic screening protocols (Dewitt et al., 2018). As previously addressed, the thinness perception measure may not have captured a homogeneous appearance perception across participants. Future research that incorporates further domains relevant to male body image (e.g., leanness; Smolak & Murnen, 2008; Tod, Hall, & Edwards, 2012) and provides visual supplementation to self-perception ratings may circumvent these limitations and further the understanding of how body-related congruence and discrepancy elicit feelings of authentic and hubristic pride in males.
The present study was an investigation into the associations between actual and ideal self-perceptions and authentic and hubristic pride in a life span sample of males. By incorporating body domains empirically supported in male body image research (muscularity and thinness), the current study suggests multiple domains of body perception play a role in the positive emotional experiences of males. This work builds upon previous literature that has been primarily focused on negative emotions and behaviors related to the body (Edwards et al., 2014; Mayo & George, 2014) and provides theoretical support for the role of congruence between the actual and ideal selves in the manifestation of authentic and hubristic pride (Tracy & Robins, 2004). Given the association between positive self-conscious emotions, positive psychological health, and engagement in health behaviors (Mack et al., 2015; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015), interventions that promote actual and ideal self-perceptions congruence may be an important avenue for future research.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
Research data are available upon request and empirical rationale to the corresponding author.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program, provided to the last author.
