The UCLA Body Matrices II

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The UCLA Body Matrices II

• David Frederick
• Anne Peplau
• UCLA Department of Psychology
• Acknowledgements Thanks to Jim Compton of SNSL
  Imagination for assistance creating the UCLA Body
  Matrices (SNSLimagination_at_aol.com)
• Contact David Frederick at enderflies1_at_aol.com.
  Available at the following website
  dred.bol.ucla.edu

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Problems in Measuring Body Satisfaction

• Womens Bodies
• Forms used to assess womens body types confound
  body fat and breast size, or only manipulate one
  of these features.
• Mens Bodies
• Similarly, forms for men appear to confound
  muscularity with body fat, or only manipulate one
  of these features.
• Hand-Drawn Images
• All existing forms utilize crude hand-drawn
  silhouettes of men and women.

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Examples of Popular Female Reference Forms
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Examples of Popular Male Reference Forms
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The UCLA Body Matrices

• We introduce the UCLA Body Matrices as an
  improvement over existing forms. These new
  matrices provide more levels of body fat for
  women and muscularity for men
• The UCLA Matrix of Men systematically varies
• 4 levels of body fat, from slender (10) to heavy
  (40)
• 7 levels of muscularity, from non-muscular (10)
  to very muscular (70)
• The UCLA Matrix of Women systematically varies
• 4 levels of breast size, from small (10) to large
  (40)
• 8 levels of body fat, from slender (10) to heavy
  (80)
• The numbers correspond to equally spaced
  intervals according to the software used, not
  objective measurements (e.g., not 10 body fat).

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Pick a Number vs. Scaled Versions

• Pick A Number Version
• Each one of the images is numbered
• Participants are simply asked to indicate which
  image best represents their current body, the
  ideal body, the typical body, etc.
• The advantage is this version is very simple for
  participants
• Scaled Version
• Participants indicate which image best represents
  their current body, etc., using a
  latitude-longitude system.
• This is more complex for participants but allows
  them to indicate intermediate values (e.g., they
  can indicate that their breast size is between
  levels 30 and 40).
• Matrices can be viewed at http//dfred.bol.ucla.
  edu/UCLAbody.html

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Present Research

• 1. Do rating of ones current body, ideal body,
  and the discrepancy between these ratings predict
  measures of
• Body Mass (BMI)?
• Breast Cup Size
• Overall body satisfaction (Appearance Evaluation
  Scale (Cash, 2000)?
• Drive for muscularity (McCreary Sasse, 2000)?
• Breast size satisfaction (Forbes Frederick,
  under review)
• 2. Do people perceive a difference between their
  current and their ideal body?
• 3. Do people perceive a difference between the
  typical and most attractive body type of the
  other sex?
• 4. Do the measures show high test-retest
  reliability?

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Study 1 Pick A Number Version

• Participants were 102 men and 255 women in a
  psychology class who participated in exchange for
  extra credit.
• Mean Age 18.94
• 26 White, 41 Asian, 14 Hispanic, 19 Other.

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Validating the UCLA Body MatricesAssociation to
BMI and Breast Size

• Linear Regressions predicting BMI
• Men (Muscularity and Body fat to BMI)
• Model R .74
• Women (Breast Size and Body fat to BMI)
• Model R .71
• Linear Regressions predicting cup size
• (Breast size and Body Fat self-reported cup
  size)
• Model R .76

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Association of Matrix Choices to Body Image
Appearance Evaluation (Higher Better)
Women Current Body Fat Ideal Body Fat Fat Discrepancy Current Breast Size Ideal Breast Size Breast Discrepancy -.36 -.05 -.38 .02 -.03 -.18
Men Current Body Fat Ideal Body Fat Fat Discrepancy Current Muscularity Ideal Muscularity Muscle Discrepancy -.37 -.12 .44 .43 .17 -.27
The discrepancies are absolute values. For
example, Fat Discrepancy ABS (current ideal
body fat level.)
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Men and Womens Ratings of Female Body Fat
Womens Ratings of Body Fat Women perceived
that their current body did not differ from the
typical body, but they were heavier than their
ideal. Mens Ratings of Body Fat Men perceived
that the most attractive body was thinner than
the ideal body.
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Men and Womens Ratings of Female Breast Size
Womens Ratings of Breast Size Women did not
perceive a difference between their current
breast size and the ideal breast size, but did
desire larger ideal breasts. Mens Ratings of
Breast Size Men indicated that the typical
breast size was smaller than the ideal breast
size.
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Men and Womens Ratings of Male Body Fat
Mens Ratings of Body Fat Men perceived that
they were slightly thinner than average, and
slightly heavier than their ideal. Womens
Ratings of Body Fat Women did not perceive a
difference between the typical and ideal level of
body fat.
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Men and Womens Ratings of Male Muscularity
Mens Ratings of Muscularity Men perceived that
they were slightly more muscular than average,
but were much less muscular than their ideal.
Womens Ratings of Muscularity Women indicated
that the most attractive male body was much more
muscular than the typical male body.
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Study 2 Scaled Version

• Participants were 112 men and 122 women at local
  campus hangouts who participated in exchange for
  being entered in a lottery.
• Mean Age 22.88
• 40 White, 25 Asian, 12 Hispanic, 23 Other.

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Validating the UCLA Body MatricesAssociation to
BMI and Breast Size

• Linear Regressions predicting BMI
• Men (Muscularity and Body fat to BMI)
• Model R .73
• Women (Breast Size and Body fat to BMI)
• Model R .67
• Linear Regressions predicting cup size
• (Breast size and Body Fat self-reported cup
  size)
• Model R .76

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Association of Matrix Choices to Body Image
Appearance Evaluation (Higher Better) Breast / Muscle Dissatisfaction (Higher Worse)
Women Current Body Fat Ideal Body Fat Fat Discrepancy Current Breast Size Ideal Breast Size Breast Discrepancy -.30 -.07 -.45 -.13 -.12 -.19 -.11 -.24 .09 -.42 -.08 .51
Men Current Body Fat Ideal Body Fat Fat Discrepancy Current Muscularity Ideal Muscularity Muscle Discrepancy -.02 -.04 .00 .11 .17 .12 -.20 -.29 -.04 .26 .42 .21
The discrepancies are absolute values. For
example, Fat Discrepancy ABS (current ideal
body fat level.)
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Men and Womens Ratings of Female Body Fat
Womens Ratings of Body Fat Women did not
perceive a difference between their body and the
typical body, but were heavier than their ideal
body. Mens Ratings of Body Fat Men indicated
that the most attractive body was thinner than
the typical body.
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Men and Womens Ratings of Female Breast Size
Womens Ratings of Breast Size Women did not
perceive a difference between their current body
and the typical body, but desired larger breasts.
Mens Ratings of Breast Size Men indicated
that the most attractive breast size was larger
than the typical breast size.
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Men and Womens Ratings of Male Body Fat
Mens Ratings of Body Fat Men believed they
were slightly thinner than average, but slightly
heavier than their ideal. Womens Ratings of
Body Fat Women did not perceive a difference
between the typical and most attractive body fat
level.
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Men and Womens Ratings of Male Muscularity
Mens Ratings of Muscularity Men perceived that
they were slightly more muscular than average,
but much less muscular than their ideal body.
Womens Ratings of Muscularity Women indicated
that the most attractive body was more muscular
than the typicial male body.
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Summary of Findings

• The results suggest that the matrices are useful
  measures of body image and body type preferences.
  Responses were
• Strongly related to BMI and self-reported breast
  cup-size
• Associated with global body satisfaction, and
  breast size/muscularity satisfaction
• Congruent with past research on body type
  preferences