Body dissatisfaction: how is it related to stress and one's perception of individual and cultural ideal body? A comparison of Bosnian and American university students

Abstract

Cultural differences in body dissatisfaction, the relationship of stress to body dissatisfaction and individual and cultural body ideals were investigated. Forty-eight United States women and 48 Bosnian women completed the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), the Impact of Event Scale (IES), and a Body Figure Rating Scale. When Body Mass Index was controlled, United States women demonstrated more body dissatisfaction and chose smaller cultural ideal body sizes than Bosnian women, but did not differ on personal ideal body size ratings. Furthermore, stress was only related to body dissatisfaction for Bosnian women. Additional research is needed to further elaborate the body dissatisfaction differences as they relate to cultural values.