Bigorexia and Confrontation with Socially Promoted Aesthetic Ideals

Introduction: Bigorexia is characterized by an obsession with the appearance of one’s body, fear of not having enough muscles, and the urgent need to exercise excessively. This discomfort affects the individuals mental and physical health and damages his or her relationship with sports and physical activity. The research aims to describe possible individual and environmental elements that may promote the development of bigorexia and exercise addiction, with the intent to identify the prevalence of this distress among young individuals. Materials and Methods: The research involved a group of 1662 male individuals aged 18-30 years. Questionnaires were administered online and then analyzed using research software. The test battery included the following questionnaires: - Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire: an instrument consisting of 22 items that assesses thin and muscular-ideal internalization as well as appearance-related pressures from peers, family, and media by distinguishing between pressures to achieve socially promoted aesthetic standards and internalization of such ideals. It comprises five subscales: Internalization: Thin/Low Body Fat; Internalization: Muscular/Athletic; Pressures: Family; Pressures: Media; Pressures: Peers. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (definitely disagree) to 5 (definitely agree) - Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory: consisting of 13 items, a total score and three subscales: Measurement Concern (5 items, range 5-25), Outward Appearance Intolerance (4 items, range 4-20), and Functional Deterioration (4 items, range 4-20). Descriptive statistics and frequency of occurrence were calculated. Results: Data analysis shows that participants’ body image is not predominant: for 16.1% looking athletic is important, for 13.8% not at all. As for thinking about appearing muscular, 10.6% think about it often, while 24.4% never think about it. 26.4% do not spend much time on activities that make them look athletic, while 12% put a lot of effort into it. Concerning the perception of being under pressure in their daily lives regarding improving their physical appearance, 68.6% do not feel this pressure from their family, while 4.2% feel it importantly. 17% perceive peer pressure in contrast to 5%. Finally, 45.1% do not feel any pressure from the media while 2.5% feel it significantly. Conclusions: The research highlights that approximately 10-12% of the analyzed sample shows to possess predictive aspects of bigorexia and exercise addiction which are determined by a number of interacting individual and environmen-tal factors. Among these factors, the study shows that a prominent role is played by the individuals confrontation with the aesthetic ideals that the family, social and media context proposes or shows appreciation for. Keywords: Body satisfaction, Bigorexia, Exercise addiction References: Rhea DJ et al. (2004) Schaefer LM et al. (2015)