Muscle Up: Male Athletes’ and Non-Athletes’ Psychobiological Responses to, and Recovery From, Body Image Social-Evaluative Threats

Negative body image often occurs as a result of social evaluation of the physique in men. Social self-preservation theory (SSPT) holds that social-evaluative threats (SETs) elicit consistent psychobiological responses (i.e., salivary cortisol and shame) to protect one’s social-esteem, status, and st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of men's health 2023-01, Vol.17 (1), p.15579883231155089-15579883231155089
Main Authors: Brown, David M., Muir, Cameron, Gammage, Kimberley L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Athletes
Body Image
Hormones
Humans
Hydrocortisone
Male
Muscles
Original
Psychobiology
Saliva
Self Concept
Self image
Stress, Psychological
Young Adult
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Summary:Negative body image often occurs as a result of social evaluation of the physique in men. Social self-preservation theory (SSPT) holds that social-evaluative threats (SETs) elicit consistent psychobiological responses (i.e., salivary cortisol and shame) to protect one’s social-esteem, status, and standing. Actual body image SETs have resulted in psychobiological changes consistent with SSPT in men; however, responses in athletes have yet to be examined. These responses may differ as athletes tend to experience fewer body image concerns compared with non-athletes. The purpose of the current study was to examine psychobiological (i.e., body shame and salivary cortisol) responses to an acute laboratory body image SET in 49 male varsity athletes from non-aesthetic sports and 63 male non-athletes from a university community. Participants (age range 18–28 years) were randomized into a high or low body image SET condition, stratified by athlete status; measures of body shame and salivary cortisol were taken across the session (i.e., pre, post, 30-min post, 50-min post-intervention). There were no significant time-by-condition interactions, such that athletes and non-athletes had significant increases in salivary cortisol (F3,321 = 3.34, p = .02), when controlling for baseline values, and state body shame (F2.43,262.57 = 4.58, p = .007) following the high-threat condition only. Consistent with SSPT, body image SETs led to increased state body shame and salivary cortisol, although there were no differences in these responses between non-athletes and athletes.
ISSN:1557-9883
1557-9891
DOI:10.1177/15579883231155089