Body Image Of Gay Men And Its Influencing Factors

Body image is the attitude, fantasy, emotion and behavior of individuals on their appearance and body shape, with significant impact on mental health of individuals. Research of Western countries have indicated that gay men have higher body dissatisfaction than that of other sexual-orientation groups. Compared with Western society, Chinese society attaches less importance to sex with lower openness. Homosexuality is less recognized in China. Therefore, Chinese gay men face more pressure and difficulties on self-identification. Study on characteristics of body image for Chinese gay men have important cultural and practical significances. The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of body image of gay men under the influence of Chinese culture; meanwhile, the influencing factors affecting the body image of gay men were analyzed based on existing theories and research, mainly including age, body mass index, gender role, self-esteem and perceived social pressure. Network questionnaire approach was used in the study, investing gays from various provinces and cities of China through electronic questionnaire. There were 800 valid questionnaires recovered for statistics and analysis. Finally, several conclusions were obtained as follows:(1) The majority of gay body mass index was in normal range (66.3%), while the minority of them belonged to underweight and overweight (17.6% and 16.1%); most gay men had undifferentiated personality and androgyny personality (respectively 36.8% and 34.4%), while less were masculine and feminine (13.5% and 15.6%); the self-esteem of gay men was below the norm standard; gay men with androgynous and masculine personality had higher elf-esteem than those with feminine and undifferentiated personality.(2) Gay men reported higher negative body image, with highest unsatisfactory rate on muscle; evaluation on appearance and fitness and concern about obesity increased with age; gay men with normal BMI had higher body satisfaction than those thin and overweight.(3) Gender roles had direct impact on body image, also with indirect impact on body image by mediating effect of self-esteem; the perceived social pressure had no direct effect on body image, but had indirect effect through mediating effect of self-esteem; self-esteem act as an intermediary role in the model, also with direct impact on body image.