Relative Strength of the Associations of Body Fat, Muscularity, Height, and Penis Size Dissatisfaction With Psychological Quality of Life Impairment Among Sexual Minority Men

To date, there is scant research on whether different domains of male body dissatisfaction vary in the strengthof their relationships with psychological well-being. This paucity also extends to sexual minority men (i.e.,men who report their sexual orientation as gay or bisexual). Thus, among sexual minority men, we examinedthe relative strength of the associations of four key male body dissatisfaction domains— body fat, muscularity,height, and penis size—with psychological quality of life impairment. A geographically representative sampleof 2,733 sexual minority men completed a self-report survey, which was advertised nationwide acrossAustralia and New Zealand to users of a popular geosocial-networking smartphone application. Participantscompleted a measure of psychological quality of life in addition to measures of body fat, muscularity, height,and penis size dissatisfaction. Results indicated that increased dissatisfaction with each domain of male bodydissatisfaction was uniquely associated with psychological quality of life impairment. The strongest relationshipwith quality of life impairment was observed for muscularity dissatisfaction (effect size small tomedium), followed by dissatisfaction with body fat (small), height (small), and penis size (very small). Theserelationships were not moderated by participants’ sexual orientation (exclusively gay vs. bisexual), culturalbackground, or relationship status. The findings emphasize the need to prioritize research on muscularitydissatisfaction and related psychopathology, a category inclusive of muscularity-oriented disordered eating,muscle dysmorphia, and anabolic steroid misuse and dependence. Contrary to common disparaging stereotypesabout men and their body image concerns, penis dissatisfaction was relatively uncommon and evidencedthe weakest association with quality of life impairment