A Male Body-Checking Questionnaire is Tested

“Body checking” involves repeated attempts to evaluate or scrutinize appearance, and may be an important behavioral consequence of a body image disturbance. Body checking can involve checking and rechecking one’s image in the mirror, pinching areas of “fat,” feeling muscles or measuring the body with a tape, and also weighing repeatedly. Body-checking seems to be driven by an overvaluation of shape or weight.

Until recently, there were few ways to measure this behavior, particularly among men, because most previously developed body-checking questionnaires have included questions much more applicable to women, such as concern about size of the thighs or concern about fatness or body weight. Dr. Tom Hildebrandt of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and his colleagues recently developed a body-checking questionnaire designed specifically for males. This instrument includes items such as concern about musculature of the upper body, reduced subcutaneous body fat, especially around the waist, and the shape or feeling of specific muscles (Int J Eat Disorders 2010; 43:77)

The questionnaire was developed from the results of three individual studies. The first study included 196 men and 146 women, who filled in a series of questionnaires, including the Eating Disorders Questionnaire. The second study tested the structure of the Male Body Checking Questionnaire, or MBCQ, in a separate sample of undergraduate men, and evaluated the possibility of a higher-order body checking factor. A group of 549 undergraduate men were recruited from a university, and were given course credit for participating. The third study was a test-retest reliability study.

The results of the three studies suggested that the unique phenomenon of body checking may be strongly influenced by an individual’s gender and may also be associated with differentially valued aspects of appearance, such as thinness or degree of musculature.

According to the authors, research on male body image disturbances continues to suggest that males want greater muscularity and its associated attributes, such as social dominance, physical health, and better job-related performance. The MBCQ subscales may capture a general tendency for men to evaluate physical features they believe are associated with these stereotypical masculine attributes. And, unlike among females, social comparison among males may not lead to body image dissatisfaction as often; instead, body-based social comparison among men may have a more diverse range of emotional consequences, such as constantly comparing oneself to others or excessively seeking reassurance from others.