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Men obsessed with building muscles are significantly more likely to objectify women, be hostile toward women, and have sexist attitudes, new research finds.
A group of 327 heterosexual British men filled out questionnaires for the study. Most were white, and 38.5 percent were single, 31.2 percent were in a dating relationship and 23.9 percent were married. (The rest fit into an "other" category.)
The surveys gauged participants' desire for a more muscular body — for example, asking how often they think "I wish that I were more muscular" — and their attitudes toward women. Examples of items in the sexist beliefs portion of the survey included: "I feel that many times women flirt with men just to tease them or hurt them," and "Intoxication among women is worse than intoxication among men."
Those men who showed more interest in being muscular were also more likely than others to score higher on sexist beliefs, hostility toward and objectification of women.
"We think men who hold oppressive beliefs about women and gender equality are also more likely to endorse traditional stereotypes of masculinity, which includes the muscular physique," Swarmi said.
The surveys gauged participants' desire for a more muscular body — for example, asking how often they think "I wish that I were more muscular" — and their attitudes toward women. Examples of items in the sexist beliefs portion of the survey included: "I feel that many times women flirt with men just to tease them or hurt them," and "Intoxication among women is worse than intoxication among men."
Those men who showed more interest in being muscular were also more likely than others to score higher on sexist beliefs, hostility toward and objectification of women.
"We think men who hold oppressive beliefs about women and gender equality are also more likely to endorse traditional stereotypes of masculinity, which includes the muscular physique," Swarmi said.
Is this such a surprise?
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