Masculine Gender Role Stress and the Pursuit of Muscularity

The relationship between masculine gender role stress and body change was ex-amined in 129 men, aged between 18 and 40 years (M = 24.38; SD = 6.04), who completed the Masculine Gender Role Stress scale (MGRS), the Drive for Mus-cularity Scale, the Eating Disorder Inventory, and the Eating Disorder Examina-tion-Questionnaire. Significant relationships were observed between MGRS and drive for muscularity and, to a lesser extent, drive for thinness and disordered eat-ing symptomatology. These relationships were mediated by body dissatisfaction, and several of the relationships were positively moderated by self-reported affec-tive problems and personal ineffectiveness. Although interpretation of the results is limited by the cross-sectional design employed, the results are consistent with the proposition that a fear of deviating from the masculine gender role, particularly in men who feel ineffective and who have difficulty controlling and accessing their emotions, is related to concern with, and pursuit of, muscularity and leanness