Women More Confident About Their Body Than Ever Before, New Study Finds

A new study has found that women today are more confident about their body in regard to weight than ever before. The study reported more body dissatisfaction in men than women.

For the purpose of the study, the researchers examined over 250 studies from 1981 to 2012 that included more than 100,000 U.S. men and women. The purpose of the study was to analyze trends in how people felt about their bodies, specifically in regard to weight, reported Daily Mail. It was found that the percentage of women who are dissatisfied with their bodies has reduced 3.3 points from 1981 to 2012. On the other hand, dissatisfaction among men remained relatively constant throughout. Men's body image issues can often be related to their muscles, strength and power.

Psychologist Dr Bryan Karazsia from The College of Wooster, Ohio, said that the research findings indicate that the social pressures women face over body image and diversity has changed positively. He added that while women consistently report being more dissatisfied with their bodies than men as far as thinness is concerned, that dissatisfaction has decreased over the 31-year period. Karazsia claimed that there could be two possible reasons for the shift. One is that Americans are physically larger than they have ever been, so they feel more normal and less concerned about their body. Secondly, there has been an increase in the number of advertisements featuring women of all body types.

"The last two decades have witnessed increasing attention and awareness on a body acceptance movement aimed primarily at girls and women," said Karazsia, reported Eurekalert. That, combined with increased media visibility of role models who run counter to the trend towards thinness, may, in part, help explain their findings." The research findings was presented at the American Psychological Association's 124th Annual Convention.

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