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We sought evidence of internalization of the muscular ideal body among boys and girls by comparing their preferences for hyper-muscular action figures versus their normally-muscular counterparts. Children observed pairings of action figures and reported their preference. Most boys and girls significantly preferred the hyper-muscular figures, and were more likely to provide a physical reason for their preference (e.g., more muscular) than children who preferred the normally-muscular figures. Sex did not affect rates of preference for preferring the hyper-muscular figures, suggesting physical reasons were the main reason why both boys and girls preferred the hyper-muscular figures. Figure preference differed significantly as a function of sex; boys were significantly more likely to report a preference for the hyper-muscular figures (90.3%) than girls (80.7%), Χ2(1, N = 347) = 6.53, p = .011. The results tentatively point to internalization of the muscular ideal body among both boys and girls. Clinicians might consider exploring and dismantling internalizationrelated beliefs among child clients.
Western nations venerate muscle in boys and men (Kanayama & Pope, 2011), but recent data suggest that the ideal woman is moving away from being excessively thin (Roberts & Muta, 2017). Internalization of the muscular male body ideal, which is endorsed by societal norms of an 'ideal' male body size and appearance (Thompson, Van den Berg, Roehrig, Guara & Heinsber, 2004), is a key cause for eating disorders and body dissatisfaction among males. For example, the tripartite influence model of body dissatisfaction (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999), since revised for males (Tylka, 2011; Tylka & Andorka, 2012), posits that peer-pressure to obtain a muscular body from friends, family, romantic partners, and the media cause males to internalize the muscular body ideal. This, in turn, causes dissatisfaction with both body muscularity and body fat, leading to consequent development of thinness- and muscularity-focused pathology, include eating disorders (Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2004), muscle dysmorphia (Murray et al., 2012; Pope et al., 2005;) and anabolic steroid use (Kanayama, Hudson & Pope, 2012; Parent & Moradi, 2011; Smolak & Stein, 2010). Recent data indicating a rise in the prevalence of male eating disordered behaviour (Aruguete, Griffith, Edman, Green, & McCutcheon, 2014; Mitchison, Hay, Slewa-Younan & Mond, 2014) and anabolic steroid use (Memedovic, Iversen, Geddes, & Maher, 2016) highlighted the...