Perceptions of the Social and Personal Characteristics of Hypermuscular Women and of the Men Who Love Them

• Published in: The Journal of social psychology 2004-10, Vol.144 (5), p.487-506
• Main Authors: Forbes, Gordon B., Adams-curtis, Leah E., Holmgren, Katie M., White, Kay B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Bodybuilding; College Students; Deviant Behavior; Empowerment; Europe; Female; Females; Feminism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gender; Gender Identity; Gender stereotypes; gender traits; Heterosexuality; Humans; hypermuscular woman; Hypertrophy; Hypotheses; Individual Characteristics; Investigations; Love; Male; Males; Masculinity; Men; Muscle, Skeletal - pathology; Perceptions; Personal characteristics; Personality; Personality Assessment; Personality Measures; Personality Studies; Personality traits; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Romantic relationships; Sex; Sex Role; Sex roles; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Orientation; Social attribution, perception and cognition; Social Behavior; Social behaviour; Social Perception; Social psychology; somatotype; Somatotypes; Stereotyping; Student Attitudes; Weight Lifting - psychology; Women; women's bodybuilding
• ISSN: 0022-4545; 1940-1183
• DOI: 10.3200/SOCP.144.5.487-506

A predominately European American sample of middle class college students rated hypermuscular female bodybuilders and the men who were romantically involved with them on measures of perceived gender traits, personality traits, social behaviors, and heterosexual behaviors. Participants perceived hypermuscular women, as compared to the average woman, as having more masculine and fewer feminine interests, less likely to be good mothers, and less intelligent, socially popular, and attractive. However, participants also perceived them as being less likely to engage in socially deviant behaviors or to be sexually manipulative and more likely to be extraverted, conscientious, and open to new experiences than the average woman. Participants perceived men who are romantically involved with hypermuscular women as having stronger masculine traits, interests, and identities than the average man. The authors found no relationships between the perceiver's gender type and his or her perceptions of hypermuscular women or the men who were romantically involved with them.