Gender-role conflict and men's body satisfaction: The moderating role of age

Recent studies have demonstrated that men's body dissatisfaction is rising and that traditional masculine ideology may have a significant impact on the development of male body image concerns. However, the role of age in this relationship is not well understood. Thus, the present research sought to determine how body dissatisfaction might differ across age groups, and to examine the moderating role of age on gender role conflict and body dissatisfaction. Participants were 156 University of Canberra and Southern Cross Health Club men. Age categories included young adult (17 to 29 years), middle adulthood (30 to 49 years), and older adult (50 to 71 years). Participants completed the gender role conflict scale and the male body attitudes scale either online or in a hard-copy survey. Results revealed that younger men had higher levels of muscle and height dissatisfaction but that body-fat dissatisfaction was experienced similarly across the age categories. Additionally, age moderated the relationship between gender role conflict and muscle and body-fat dissatisfaction but did not moderate the relationship between gender role conflict and height dissatisfaction. These findings add to the limited literature on male body image and suggest that age and gender role conflict play an important role in the experience of male body dissatisfaction.