Women's Body Figure Preferences Across the Life Span
- 30 March 1998
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in The Journal of Genetic Psychology
- Vol. 159 (1), 94-102
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00221329809596137
Abstract
Body figure preferences were examined in a sample of 180 women 18 to 59 years old. Participants were presented with Fallon and Rozin's (1985) set of 9 silhouette drawings ranging from very thin to very heavy. Women of all ages rated their current figure as significantly larger than their ideal figure, indicating the presence of body dissatisfaction across the life span. The degree of body dissatisfaction did not vary with age, marital status, educational level, or occupational status. However, in contrast to the younger women's responses and to the results of previous studies, women over the age of 30 years rated their ideal figure as significantly larger than the one perceived as most attractive to men. Therefore, conclusions concerning this issue that are based on studies of college undergraduates cannot necessarily be generalized to other groups of women.This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
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