Social media, looksmaxxing, and why men struggle with body image, with Roberto Olivardia, PhD
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Why have body‑image concerns historically been seen as a women’s issue and how has that view changed for men?
Thank you. What are these messages doing to men and boys? For years, body image concerns were seen as something that primarily affected women and girls. But today, there's increasing recognition that boys and men also struggle with body dissatisfaction and eating disorders, and that social media might be making the problem worse. So how common are body image concerns among boys and men? In what ways do eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorders in men look different than they look in women and girls? Why do they so often go unrecognized? What role is social media playing in shaping men's perceptions of their bodies? And what can parents, clinicians, and others do to help boys and men develop a healthy relationship with their appearance?
Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, the flagship podcast of the American Psychological Association that examines the links between psychological science and everyday life. I'm Kim Mills. My guest today is Dr. Roberto Olivardia, a clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital in Boston and a lecturer in psychology at Harvard Medical School. He and his colleagues coined the term muscle dysmorphia nearly 30 years ago as a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder that primarily affects men. Today, he specializes in the treatment of body dysmorphic disorder and eating disorders, as well as ADHD and obsessive compulsive disorder. He is a co-author of the book, The Adonis Complex, The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession.
And he's spoken widely to the media about issues related to body image in boys and men. Dr. Olivardia, thank you for joining me today. Oh, thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure.
Well, let's start with the big picture. I mentioned in the introduction that body image is often viewed as a concern primarily for girls and women. Why is that and how has our understanding of body image concerns in boys and men changed over the past few decades?
Yes. Contrary to what people believe is that 25% of people who have eating disorders are boys and men. Now, many years ago, when I started entering into this research arena, we didn't see that epidemiological data. And part of it was, A, there weren't a lot of studies looking at boys and men, or the assessment measures were not really valid or reliable for Male populations, boys and men were not presenting clinically. And so it was difficult in terms of getting research because a lot of research on boys and men were just being in the early 90s were being drawn from just clinical samples, which represented just a slice of the boys and men who are struggling. So we know that it's much more common than people think it is.
And having done this work for over 30 years, I've seen just increased awareness.
How common are body‑image dissatisfaction and eating disorders among boys and men?
And at the same time, there are issues like, as you mentioned, with social media that are absolutely escalating this issue with boys and men.
You and your colleagues coined the term muscle dysmorphia. What is muscle dysmorphia, and how is it different from simply wanting to get stronger or more fit?
Yes. So in research studies that I was doing at the time on eating disorders, I would get a lot of calls from men who said, well, I don't have an eating disorder, but I used to. I used to have, and many of them would say, I used to have anorexia nervosa, and now they're they would say, I sort of have this other thing where the pendulum kind of swung in the other direction. I'm still obsessed with food and with calories, except I'm eating food, but I'm obsessed with working out. So instead of wanting to be lean, I can't get big enough. I'm worried about losing size. And many of those men with anorexia said that they were never really seeking to be skinny or thin. They were seeking to be lean. which is a little bit different in male body image than typically what you would see with female populations.
So these were men who were – some of them had disordered eating or full-on clinical eating disorders. Some did not. But they were often – you know, muscular big guys who are obsessed with working out.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why have body‑image concerns historically been seen as a women’s issue and how has that view changed for men?
0:00–3:22
2
How common are body‑image dissatisfaction and eating disorders among boys and men?
3:22–8:12
3
What is muscle dysmorphia and how does it differ from normal fitness goals?
8:12–14:17
4
Which psychological, social and biological factors trigger muscle dysmorphia in males?
14:17–22:17
5
How are social‑media trends like the “manosphere” and looks‑maxxing intensifying male body‑image problems?
22:17–29:17
6
What clinical signs tell us a man has moved from healthy exercising to muscle dysmorphia?
29:17–34:46
7
Which evidence‑based therapies and treatments work best for men with muscle dysmorphia?
34:46–41:16
8
What warning signs should parents watch for and how can families support a son struggling with body‑image issues?
41:16–42:29
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Speaking of Psychology
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