Body Depilation Among Women and Men: the Association of Body Hair Reduction Or Removal with Body Satisfaction, Appearance Compar
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School January 2012 Body Depilation among Women and Men: The Association of Body Hair Reduction or Removal with Body Satisfaction, Appearance Comparison, Body Image Disturbance, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptomatology Michael Scott Boroughs University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, Clinical Psychology Commons, and the Sociology Commons Scholar Commons Citation Boroughs, Michael Scott, "Body Depilation among Women and Men: The Association of Body Hair Reduction or Removal with Body Satisfaction, Appearance Comparison, Body Image Disturbance, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptomatology" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3985 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Body Depilation among Women and Men: The Association of Body Hair Reduction or Removal with Body Satisfaction, Appearance Comparison, Body Image Disturbance, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptomatology by Michael S. Boroughs A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Psychology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: J. Kevin Thompson, Ph.D. Vicky Phares, Ph.D. Cynthia R. Cimino, Ph.D. Joseph A. Vandello, Ph.D. Brent J. Small, Ph.D. Date of Approval: October 12, 2010 Keywords: body image, body hair, human appearance, attractiveness, Social Comparison Theory, muscularity, masculinity, femininity Copyright © 2012, Michael S. Boroughs Dedication I dedicate this dissertation and the completion of my doctoral degree to the memory of several family members, and a dear friend, that passed during the course of my training including Uncle Bill, Aunt Mickey, Bryan, Mom and Dad Kellenberger, and Stephanie Gaskins. Their support and love made all of this possible and worthwhile. In addition, I would like to acknowledge and dedicate this manuscript to the most essential, unique, supportive, and moving contributors to my adult life; those that enabled my professional growth through their unwavering personal support and friendship. In my eyes, they require recognition in this space, though their mere mention through these words alone, cannot encapsulate the magnitude of their importance to me. Without them, this entire academic endeavor would be meaningless. So I would like to further dedicate the completion of my studies to my best friends: W. Everett Wilson & Detlef Weller- Wilson, Kevin B. Kellenberger, Blanca M. Theista, and Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Pollio; I love you all so much and appreciate all that you do, and have done, through supporting, nurturing, and loving me all of these years. Acknowledgements I must acknowledge and thank my major professor, Dr. J. Kevin Thompson, for over 15 years of mentorship, academic support, and guidance, and for challenging me when I need it or comforting me when I did not. Also many thanks are in order for the distinguished faculty that served on my dissertation committee including Drs. Vicky Phares, Cynthia R. Cimino, Joseph A. Vandello, and Brent J. Small. I would further like to thank my colleagues at the de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, and in particular, Drs. Oliver “Tom” Massey and Kathleen H. Armstrong. Your continued intellectual support, mentorship, and most of all friendship, have been an invaluable contribution to both my professional and personal life. A special thank you goes to Gina M. Santoro, Ph.D., Ashley E. Nixon, Ph.D., and Aaron J. Blashill, Ph.D., for your friendship and for serving as inspirations for me to complete my doctoral degree. Finally, I would like to thank the other members of the BIRG lab, and the staff, owners, and regular patrons of The Moon Under Water – without you, graduate school just would not have been the same. Table of Contents List of Tables iii Abstract vi Introduction 1 Body Hair and Body Depilation Overview 1 Men’s Body Depilation 3 Women’s Body Depilation 15 Clinical Implications of Body Depilation 22 Body Hair Preferences and the Hairless Norm 25 Theoretical Models 31 Limitations of the Current Literature 36 The Current Study 37 Hypotheses 38 Exploratory Research Questions 40 Method 42 Participants 42 Procedure 43 Measures 44 Sexual Orientation 44 Body Depilation 44 Appearance Comparison 45 Body Image 46 Body Image Disturbance/Body Dysmorphic Disorder 49 Sex Roles 49 Self-Esteem 50 Measures Developed for this Study 51 Results 53 Body Hair and Body Depilation Prevalence 54 Descriptive Features of Body Depilation 55 Affective Dimensions of Body Depilation 58 Depilation Practices across 12 Body Sites 59 Men’s Unique Depilation Sites 62 Analysis of Measures Developed for this Study 64 Body Depilation Appearance Comparison 64 i Factor Analysis 66 Reliability Estimates 68 Depilation Social Norms 72 Factor Analysis 73 Reliability Estimates 74 Body Hair Measurement 80 Factor Analysis 81 Reliability Estimates 81 Regression Analyses: Body Depilation 85 Zero-Order Correlations and Theoretical Foundations 95 Body Depilation Correlates as Predictors of Body Image Disturbance 101 Tests to Explore Demographic Group Heterogeneity 104 Body Image Disturbance as an Outcome 106 Discussion 111 References 123 Appendix I: Measures and Instrumentation 138 Appendix II: Additional Tables 158 About the Author End Page ii List of Tables Table 1: Body Hair Growth by Gender and Body Site 56 Table 2: Body Depilation Prevalence by Body Site and Gender 57 Table 3: Influences into the Genesis of Body Depilation by Gender 57 Table 4: Changes in importance of Body Depilation by Gender 58 Table 5: Affective Dimensions of Body Depilation by Gender 59 Table 6: Injuries as a result of Depilation by Body Site and Gender 63 Table 7: Mean differences by Gender on the Body Depilation Appearance Comparison Scale 65 Table 8: Factor Pattern Coefficients of the BDAC scale from a Principal Components Analysis with Oblique Rotation 67 Table 9: Item to total statistics for the BDAC Scale 69 Table 10: Item to total statistics for Factor 1 of the BDAC Scale 70 Table 11: Item to total statistics for Factor 2 of the BDAC Scale 71 Table 12: Factor correlations of the BDAC Scale 72 Table 13: Mean differences by Gender on the Depilation Social Norms Scale 73 Table 14: Factor Pattern Coefficients of the SN scale from a Principal Components Analysis with Oblique Rotation 76 Table 15: Item to total statistics for the SN scale 77 Table 16: Item to total statistics for Factor 1 of the SN scale 78 Table 17: Item to total statistics for Factor 2 of the SN scale 79 Table 18: Factor Correlations of the SN scale 80 iii Table 19: Mean differences by Gender on the Body Hair Measurement Scale 83 Table 20: Factor Pattern Coefficients of the BHM scale from a Principal Components Analysis forcing a one Factor Solution 84 Table 21: Item to total statistics for the single Factor BHM scale 85 Table 22: Regression of Body Depilation on Appearance Evaluation, Body Areas Satisfaction, Communion (Femininity), Body Site Comparison, and Body Hair Satisfaction Scores for Women 88 Table 23: Regression of Body Depilation Composite on Appearance Evaluation, Body Areas Satisfaction, Communion (Femininity), Body Site Comparison, and Body Hair Satisfaction Scores (Women) and Appearance Evaluation, Body Areas Satisfaction, Drive for Muscularity, Drive for Leanness, Agency (Masculinity) and Body Site Comparison Scores (Men) 94 Table 24: Descriptive Statistics and Zero-Order Correlation Matrix 96 Table 25: One-way Analysis of Variance with Gender as the Independent Variable and Physical Appearance Comparison, Body Comparison, Body Depilation Comparison, and Depilation Social Norms Z-score conversions as Outcomes 97 Table 26: Descriptive Statistics and Zero-Order Correlation Matrix by Gender 100 Table 27: Regression of Body Image Disturbance on Body Site Comparison, Appearance Evaluation, Body Areas Satisfaction, the Drives for Leanness, Thinness, and Muscularity, Body Depilation Comparison, Body Depilation Social Norms, Communion (Femininity) and Self- Esteem Scores 102 Table 28: Sample Size of Demographic Groups 109 Table 29: A 2 (gender) x 4 (race/ethnicity) Analysis of Covariance and a 2 (gender) x 2 (sexual orientation) Analysis of Covariance with Body Image Disturbance/BDD as the Dependent Variable and age, BMI, and Body Hair as Covariates 110 Table A1: Reasons for Depilation by Body Site and Gender 157 Table A2: Frequency of Depilation by Body Site and Gender 163 Table A3: Method of Depilation by Body Site and Gender 166 iv Table A4: Regression of Body Depilation on Appearance Evaluation, Body Areas Satisfaction, Drive for Muscularity, Drive for Leanness, Agency (Masculinity), and Body Site Comparison Scores for Men 171 v Abstract Body depilation, or the reduction or removal of body hair, is a relatively new area of research inquiry. Although women in many industrialized cultures have engaged in depilation for several decades, this behavior has been documented only recently among men. Though originally thought to be widely practiced by women and only a small proportion of men, including athletes or bodybuilders, recent studies suggest that more men engage in body