Does Size Matter? Most Romantic
Partners Say 'No'
Studies find both sexes' body
insecurities may be misguided
By E.J. Mundell, HealthDay Reporter
A survey of 50,000 American adults finds
70 percent of female respondents desiring more ample or rounder
Breasts -- even though the majority of male respondents say they
are perfectly happy with their partner's Breast size.
Men have their own insecurities: The same survey finds nearly half
of American males wishing for a larger penis. At the same time,
however, 85 percent of females say they are "very satisfied" with
their partner's endowment.
"The picture this paints for us is that people are way more
self-critical of themselves than they need to be. In reality, their
partners are generally quite satisfied with them and their physical
attractiveness," said David A. Frederick, a researcher in
body-image issues at the University of California, Los
Angeles.
Frederick is lead author of the two studies, each based on data
collected from a 27-item MSNBC/Elle magazine online survey on body
image, posted on both organization's Web sites for a two-week
period in February 2003.
More than 50,000 adults averaging between 33 to 36 years of age
responded to the anonymous survey. The vast majority (98 percent)
of respondents filled out the survey while visiting the MSNBC
site.
Frederick believes Americans of both genders face incredible media
and social pressures to conform to nearly unattainable physical
ideals.
For women, "the popular Barbie doll, with her slender body, narrow
hips and large Breasts represents this ideal," his team wrote in a
study presented Friday at the American Psychological Society annual
meeting, in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, Barbie's proportions are "so extreme that it is
estimated that just one in every 100,000 women possesses her body
type," the researchers added. The drive to achieve an ideal
feminine body type is helping fuel a continuing boom in cosmetic
surgery, experts say. According to the American Society of Plastic
Surgeons, more than 264,000 women underwent Breast augmentation in
2004 alone.
While men may feel less pressure than women to attain the perfect
physique, one body part, especially, remains a focus of concern.
According to Frederick, previous studies have shown that men
overwhelming link the size of their penis to their sense of
masculinity, and often worry that their partners are dissatisfied
with their endowment.
But how valid are these fears? According to Frederick, the
MSNBC/Elle survey results suggest many Americans are their own
worst critics.
When asked about their Breasts, seven out of 10 women surveyed
expressed dissatisfaction with either size (usually "too small" )
or shape ("too droopy" ). Women in the youngest age group (18 to
25) were most likely to be content with their Breasts (33 percent),
but they were also the most likely to desire bigger Breasts (37
percent), according to the researchers. As women aged, concerns
turned from Breast size to dissatisfaction with shape, or
"droopiness."
Males were much less critical when it came to judging their wife's
or girlfriend's Breasts, however. Overall, "a majority of men (56
percent) were satisfied with their partner's Breasts," the
researchers concluded. "A mere 20 percent of men in our sample
wished their partner had larger Breasts."
Frederick acknowledges that previous, smaller studies have
suggested that men view large Breasts as "ideal." That's because
those studies have usually asked men to simply pick their favorite
from a series of photos, he said. "What we wanted to get at in this
study was how satisfied men are with their partner, because it
could be that men find a variety of Breast sizes to be attractive,
regardless of what they rate as ideal."
For their part, women appear to be very accepting of male
endowment, the survey found. But even though 85 percent of women
said they had no problem with their boyfriend's or husband's size,
nearly half (45 percent) of all males surveyed said they wished for
something larger. That number rose to 54 percent among males who
rated their penis length as just "average."
"The really good news for men, though, was that only 6 percent of
women considered their partner 'smaller than average,'" Frederick
pointed out. (For the record, Frederick said the most reliable U.S.
studies peg "average" penis size at an erect length of
approximately 5.5 inches.) The full results of this study will be
published soon, Frederick said.
"What's so interesting about these studies is the way women and men
see themselves," said Courtney Fea, another body-image researcher
and social psychologist who presented her own study Friday at the
Los Angeles meeting. "Even though many feel inadequate, they really
don't understand that others see them as quite adequate," she
said.
Her study points to one obvious remedy for some of this insecurity:
compliments.
Focusing on college-age women, her team at Kansas State University
had participants engage in an evaluation session that included a
"Self-Objectification Questionnaire" aimed at spotting women with
an unhealthy body-image fixation.
At the end of the session, a female researcher casually offered the
women one of three remarks: "Thank you for participating,"
(neutral); "You are a nice-looking person" (body compliment); and
"You sound like a nice person" (character compliment). The women
were then retested using the Self-Objectification
Questionnaire.
"Women who looked at themselves first as bodies had less shame and
became less concerned about their appearance after a compliment,"
Fea said. "And the interesting finding was that it didn't matter
what kind of a compliment it was -- whether it was about their body
or character." On the other hand, compliments had little impact
either way on shame or depression in women without major body-image
concerns, Fea said.
The take-home message? "If you're thinking about complimenting
someone, go ahead and do it," Fea said. The study wasn't designed
to test how long the feel-good effects of a compliment can last,
she said, but saying something nice certainly can't hurt. "It not
only makes them feel better, but it'll probably make you feel
better, too."
Frederick agreed that people shouldn't take it for granted that
their partner knows exactly how much they are valued.
"On both sides of the coin, men and women should express
themselves, and if they are satisfied with their partner's
appearance, this needs to be communicated," he said. That kind of
communication could help dispel fears that specific physiques or
body parts aren't up to par, he said.
It might even spice up relationships, Frederick said. "The more
confident your partner is, the healthier they'll be, including
being more interested in sex. There can be all kinds of positive
outcomes."
SOURCES: David A. Frederick, Ph.D.,
professor, department of psychology, University of California, Los
Angeles; Courtney Fea, M.S., recent graduate, Kansas State
University, Manhattan, Kan.; May 27, 2005, presentations, American
Psychological Society annual meeting, Los Angeles
