Sex Roles, Vol. 53, Nos.

9/10, November 2005 (

C 2005)

DOI: 10.1007/s11199-005-7732-5

Body Dissatisfaction, Dating, and Importance of

Thinness to Attractiveness in Adolescent Girls

Susan J. Paxton,1,3 Melinda Norris,2 Eleanor H. Wertheim,1

Sarah J. Durkin,1 and Jenny Anderson2

The primary aim of this study was to test a multivariate model of predictors of body dissat-
isfaction in adolescent girls in which psychological variables, beliefs about the importance of
popularity with boys, and beliefs about the importance of thinness to attractiveness and dat-
ing were included. We also aimed to explore boys’ perceptions of the importance of thinness
for attractiveness. Grade 10 girls (n = 573) and boys (n = 145) completed questionnaires.
Path analysis provided partial support for the model proposed. Dating did not predict body
dissatisfaction, but a relationship between importance of popularity with boys and body dis-
satisfaction was fully mediated by the belief that boys see thinness as important in rating
girls’ attractiveness. Although girls underestimated the body size that is attractive to boys,
over 85% of boys reported a girl’s slimness influenced her attractiveness. Dating was not
correlated with body mass index.

KEY WORDS: dating; thinness; body dissatisfaction; dieting; adolescent girls and boys.

Past research has identified the importance of
many sociocultural factors in the etiology of body
dissatisfaction and disordered eating, including in-
ternalization of the thin ideal body image; percep-
tions of the importance of attractiveness for so-
cial success; media, peer, and family pressures; and
weight and shape teasing (e.g., Groesz, Levine, &
Murnen, 2002; Keery, van den Berg, & Thompson,
2004; Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-
Dunn, 1999; Wertheim, Paxton, & Blaney, 2004).
One specific group of pressures that may influence
adolescent girls’ body image and eating behavior is
those related to the beginning of dating, an important
social activity that is typically first experienced in the
teenage years. Although dating has been included as
a variable in past studies, there is a need for a deeper
examination of the relationships between body dis-
1 La
Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
2 University
of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
3 To whom correspondence should be addressed at School of Psy-
chological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne,
Victoria 3086, Australia; e-mail: susan.paxton@latrobe.edu.au.
satisfaction, eating behaviors, and potential pressures
associated with dating, such as the perception of the
importance of thinness to have a boyfriend and dat-
ing. In addition, there is a need to explore boys’ be-
liefs about the importance of thinness in determining
attractiveness and whether they would ask a girl out
on a date.
The majority of previous research on dating and
its relationship to body dissatisfaction and disordered
eating has centered on girls in their early teens and,
in particular, those who experienced synchronous on-
set of menarche and dating experiences (Cauffman &
Steinberg, 1996; Gralen, Levine, Smolak, & Murnen,
1990; Levine, Smolak, Moodey, Shuman, & Hessen,
1994; Smolak, Levine, & Gralen, 1993). In one study
(Smolak et al., 1993), girls who began dating and
menarche at the same time were found to have higher
body dissatisfaction and disordered eating scores
than those who had not begun both at the same
time. In another study of 12- to 13-year-old girls
(Cauffman & Steinberg, 1996), when age and menar-
chal status were controlled, girls who dated were sig-
nificantly more likely to diet than those who did not.

663 0360-0025/05/1100-0663/0

C 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
664
Using a scale that assessed a range of heterosocial be-
havior from lower to higher involvement (i.e., from
no socializing with boys, meeting boys in groups, go-
ing out with a boy at night, to going steady with
a boy), Cauffman and Steinberg observed that the
greater the involvement in mixed-sex social activities,
the greater the level of dieting and disordered eating,
although dating was more strongly related to dieting
in girls who had recently begun to menstruate. How-
ever, these relationships appear to be relatively short
term; puberty and dating are predictors of disor-
dered eating and body dissatisfaction in younger girls
(grades 6–8) but not in mid-adolescent girls (grades
9 and 10) (Gralen et al., 1990; Smolak et al., 1993).
Further research would be valuable to assess poten-
tial relationships between dating, body dissatisfac-
tion, and eating behaviors in mid-adolescent girls.
Dating behavior itself is one factor that may be
related to body dissatisfaction and dieting; further
factors that may be related are beliefs regarding the
importance of (1) popularity with boys, (2) dating,
and (3) attractiveness to boys, which, together, was
described as “dating concern” by Gralen et al. (1990),
as these beliefs may put extra pressure on girls to
achieve the current slim beauty ideal. Gralen et al. re-
ported that dating concern rather than dating behav-
ior was a significant predictor of dieting frequency
and disordered eating in 6th and 10th grade adoles-
cents (but not in the 8th and 9th grades). They sug-
gested that dating concern and dating behavior were
tapping different sources of variance.
Alongside dating behavior and beliefs about
the importance of popularity with boys, girls’ be-
liefs about the importance of thinness for attracting
boys may be another perceived sociocultural pres-
sure that influences body image and eating behaviors.
In past research, adolescent girls have reported that
attractiveness is important for success with boys, that
body shape is an important component of attractive-
ness, and that thinness is associated with dating suc-
cess (Damhorst, Littrell, & Littrell, 1988; Simmons
& Blyth, 1987). Interview studies have resulted in
similar findings, where a substantial proportion of
girls (in one case almost 50%) held the belief that
boys preferred girls who were thin and that a girl
would have difficulty being popular with boys unless
she was thin (Nichter & Vuckovic, 1994; Wertheim,
Paxton, Schutz, & Muir, 1997). Lieberman, Gauvin,
Bukowski, and White (2001) reported that attribu-
tions about the importance of weight and shape for
popularity and dating were important predictors of
body esteem and eating behavior. Notably, the par-
Paxton, Norris, Wertheim, Durkin, and Anderson
ticipants in all of those studies were predominantly
White, and thus their findings may not be generaliz-
able to other ethnic or cultural groups.
Beliefs about the importance of popularity to
boys and the importance of thinness for attracting
boys may themselves be influenced by psychological
well-being, in particular, by low self-esteem and
depression. It is quite likely that the lower the self-
esteem and the higher the depression, the more im-
portant being popular with others, in this case boys,
might be as a means of obtaining self-validation.
Further, these attributes may contribute to greater
sensitivity to socially endorsed notions of require-
ments of attractiveness to others, for example,
thinness as a requirement of attractiveness to boys.
Previous research has consistently indicated strong
relationships between low self-esteem, depression,
body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating in adoles-
cent girls (e.g., Paxton, Schutz, Wertheim, & Muir,
1999; Stice, Presnell, & Spangler, 2002; Wertheim
et al., 1992). Thus, previously identified relationships
between dating behavior, dating concerns, a belief
that thinness is important in attractiveness to boys,
and body dissatisfaction may also be influenced by
psychological variables such as low self-esteem and
depression in mid-adolescence. Finally, in Western
cultures, higher body mass index (BMI) consistently
predicts greater body dissatisfaction cross-sectionally
and prospectively, most likely due to the negative
connotations of larger size in Western cultures
(Wertheim et al., 2004). Consequently, it is impor-
tant to take BMI into consideration when exploring
body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls.
To date, multivariate models that integrate psy-
chological factors, BMI, and dating variables as
predictors of body dissatisfaction, dieting, and bu-
limic symptoms have not been investigated. Drawing
on the theoretical and empirical material presented
above, the first aim of this research was to test a
multivariate model of body dissatisfaction in mid-
adolescent girls, as shown in Fig. 1, using a path anal-
ysis approach. First, although it was not the main fo-
cus of this research, we drew on the dual pathway
model of bulimic symptoms (e.g., Stice, 2001) and
proposed that dietary restraint and depression would
both directly predict bulimic symptomatology, and
body dissatisfaction was proposed to be a direct pre-
dictor of dietary restraint, as consistently found in
previous research (e.g., Stice, 2002). Next, more in-
volved and intimate dating behavior was proposed to
predict greater body dissatisfaction as it may be as-
sociated with more focus and concern on body size
Dating and Body Dissatisfaction
Fig. 1. Proposed path model predicting body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls.
and attractiveness. Belief that thinness is important
in attractiveness to boys was proposed to predict
body dissatisfaction directly as this belief is likely to
provoke greater concerns about appearance. Impor-
tance of popularity to boys (dating concerns) was
proposed to predict body dissatisfaction directly on
the basis of Gralen et al.’s (1990) finding. In addi-
tion, however, we proposed that there would also be
a path between the importance of popularity with
boys and the belief that thinness is important in at-
tractiveness to boys, as a high belief in the impor-
tance of popularity with boys could also contribute
to a greater endorsement of social stereotypes about
factors that make girls more attractive to boys, e.g.,
thinness. On the basis of previous research, low self-
esteem, depression, and BMI were each proposed
to predict body dissatisfaction directly. In addition,
however, low self-esteem and depression were pro-
posed to predict the importance of popularity with
boys, as popularity could be seen to reflect greater
self-worth and social value.
Pressure toward thinness experienced by women
is often ascribed to men’s preference for slender
physiques (Cohn & Adler, 1992), but it is not clear
whether women accurately perceive the degree of
slenderness desired by men and whether adolescents
share the same perceptual patterns as older women.
Fallon and Rozin (1985) found that college women
misjudged men’s perceptions of what was the most
attractive figure. Both men and women were pre-
sented with a series of line drawn female figures
665
that ranged in size from emaciated to obese. Women
were asked to select the figure that they thought men
would find most attractive. The figure women rated
as being most attractive to the other sex was signifi-
cantly thinner than the figure men actually preferred.
This effect was replicated by Forbes, Adams-Curtis,
Rade, and Jaberg (2001) in college students and by
Cohn et al. (1987) in a sample of adolescent boys
and girls (mean age 13 years, SD = .96). The sec-
ond aim of the present study was not only to de-
termine whether this effect would result when older
adolescents were asked the same question but also
to explore boys’ beliefs regarding the relationship
between thinness and attractiveness in girls. More
specifically, we were interested in whether a girl’s
thinness was important in making her appear attrac-
tive to boys and also whether it was important in de-
termining whether a boy would ask a girl out on a
date. To our knowledge, an examination of boys’ per-
ceptions of girls’ attractiveness and dating potential
in relation to her thinness has not yet been described
in the literature.
The final aim of the present study was to inves-
tigate whether these presumed pressures for adoles-
cent girls to be thin and attractive translated into ac-
tual dating success. That is, we asked, are thinner
girls more likely to be involved in heterosocial activ-
ities? Cawley (2001) examined a representative com-
munity sample of 12- to 16-year-old adolescents in
the United States. Consistent with findings in adult
women (Stake & Lauer, 1987), Cawley found that
666
higher weight lowered the probability of ever having
dated and the probability of dating at least monthly
in the past year. Halpern and colleagues (Halpern,
Udry, Campbell, & Suchindran, 1999) conducted a 2-
year longitudinal study and found that higher body
fat was associated with a reduced probability of
dating, even among nonobese adolescent girls. We
aimed to determine whether a similar relationship
would be observed in an Australian sample.
In summary, the present research was designed
to
(1) test a multivariate model of relationships be-
tween low self-esteem, depression, BMI, per-
ceived importance of popularity with boys,
belief that thinness is important in attractive-
ness to boys, dating behavior, and body dis-
satisfaction in mid-adolescent girls (Fig. 1);
(2) examine how important a girl’s thinness is to
boys in determining a girl’s attractiveness and
dating potential;
(3) examine how accurate mid-adolescent girls
are in their assessment of boys’ views of the
ideal female figure size; and
(4) identify whether dating behavior is related to
BMI in mid-adolescent girls.
METHOD
Participants
Participants were 573 girls (mean [M] age =
15.5 years, SD = .41, range = 14.4–16.4 years) and
145 boys (M = 15.62 years, SD = .47, range = 14.3–
16.9 years) in grade 10. The girls were drawn from
eight secondary schools (including private, public,
coeducational, and single sex schools) in Melbourne,
Australia, which encompasses a range of geographic
and socioeconomic status areas. The majority of girls
was born in Australia or New Zealand (81%); the
remaining girls were born in Asia (9%), the Indian
Subcontinent (2%), the United Kingdom (1.6%),
European countries other than the United Kingdom
(1.6%), and other countries (5.8%). The mean BMI
of the girls was 21.82 (SD = 3.41; BMI <19 [16.0%],
BMI = 19–25 [73.5%], BMI >25 [10.5%]). No signif-
icant differences between private and public or be-
tween coeducational and single sex schools were ob-
served in the variables of interest.
The smaller sample of boys was drawn from two
coeducational schools (one public and one private),
in middle socioeconomic areas. As with the girls,
Paxton, Norris, Wertheim, Durkin, and Anderson
the majority was born in Australia or New Zealand
(80.5%); the remaining boys were born in Asia
(5%), the Indian Subcontinent (2.8%), the United
Kingdom (4.8%), European countries other than
United Kingdom (1.4%), and other countries (5.5%).
Only students from whom both student and parental
consent were obtained and who were present on the
day of data collection participated in the research,
which resulted in a response rate of 85% of eligible
students.
Measures
Separate questionnaire packages were prepared
for girls and boys. The questionnaire for girls con-
tained measures of dating behavior and beliefs, body
image, eating, self-esteem, depression, and percep-
tions of importance of thinness to attractiveness in
girls to boys. The questionnaire for boys also con-
tained measures of importance of thinness to attrac-
tiveness in girls to boys (as well as measures of dating
behavior, body image, health behaviors, and psycho-
logical well-being that were not the focus of this study
and therefore not discussed here).
Dating Behavior and Beliefs
Simmons and Blyth’s (1987) Dating Behavior
Scale was used to assess a range of heterosocial ac-
tivities of increasing intimacy from not going out in
the company of boys, to meeting a group of boys and
girls at night, to having been out with a boy alone,
and to having a special boyfriend. As the scale as-
sesses particular behaviors, it avoids the use of terms
such as “dating” that may have various meanings to
respondents. It contains six items for which a score
on a scale from 0–3 is derived such that higher scores
are indicative of greater heterosocial involvement. A
test–retest reliability of r = .75 was derived from a
subset of the sample in the present study (N = 114).
Participants were also asked whether they currently
had and whether they ever had had a boyfriend or
girlfriend.
The importance of popularity with boys was as-
sessed with an adaptation of the three-item Dat-
ing Concerns Scale of Gralen et al. (1990). These
items were “Currently, how important is: (1) ‘hav-
ing a boyfriend,’ (2) ‘being popular with boys,’ and
(3) ‘being attractive to boys?”’ The adaptation was
the replacement of the word “dating” with having
a boyfriend, as “dating” is not an expression widely
used by Australian adolescents. Items were rated
Dating and Body Dissatisfaction
from not at all important (1) to very important (5),
and scores were summed. In the present study, a
Cronbach’s alpha of .81 and a test–retest reliability
of r = .80 were obtained.
Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Behaviors,
and Body Mass Index
Body dissatisfaction was assessed using the 44-
item Body Attitudes Questionnaire (Ben-Tovim &
Walker, 1991), which contains six subscales: attrac-
tiveness, body disparagement, feeling fat, strength
and fitness, lower body fat, and salience of weight
and shape. Each item is a statement about one’s atti-
tude toward one’s body; items are rated on a 5-point
Likert scale from definitely disagree (1) to definitely
agree (5). Scores for each item are summed, such that
a higher score indicates greater body dissatisfaction.
It has a previously demonstrated test–retest reliabil-
ity and validity in adolescent girls (Byrnes, Burns, &
Baur, 1995; Schutz, Paxton, & Wertheim, 2002) and
in the present study Cronbach’s alpha = .87.
Dietary restraint was examined using the
10-item Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire-
Restraint subscale (Van Strien, Frijters, Bergers, &
Defares, 1986). Questions about restrained eating
behavior are rated on a 5-point Likert scale that
ranges from never (1) to very often (5), and scores
are summed such that higher scores indicate greater
dietary restraint. The DEBQ-R has high construct
validity, test–retest reliability, and internal reliabil-
ity in adolescent girls (Banasiak, Wertheim, Koerner,
& Voudouris, 2001; Laessle, Tuschl, Kotthaus, &
Pirke, 1989). Cronbach’s alpha in the present sample
was .94.
The seven-item Eating Disorder Inventory-
Bulimia subscale (Garner, Olmsted, & Polivy, 1983)
was used to assess bulimic symptomatology. Each
item is rated on a 6-point scale, such that the least
symptomatic response is given a score of 1 and the
most symptomatic a score of 6. The untransformed
scoring system, in which scores on each item are
summed, was used, as this has been found to be most
appropriate in nonclinical samples (Shoemaker, Van
Strien, & Van der Staak, 1994). The EDI-Bulimia
subscale has demonstrated validity and reliability in
adolescent girls (Shoemaker et al., 1994; Shore &
Porter, 1990) and in the present sample Cronbach’s
alpha was .83.
Weight and height were measured, and BMI
(weight [kg]/height2 [m]) was calculated (Keys,
Fidanza, Karvonen, Kimura, & Taylor, 1972).
667
Psychological Variables
The 10-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory
(Rosenberg, 1965) was used to assess self-esteem.
This is a widely used instrument in which statements
about the self such as “On the whole I am satisfied
with myself” are rated on a 4-point scale (1–4) that
ranges from strongly agree to strongly disagree. A
low score indicates low self-esteem. The inventory is
valid, has high reproducibility (Rosenberg), and had
a Cronbach’s alpha of .80 in the present sample.
The short form of the Beck Depression Inven-
tory (Beck & Beck, 1972) was used to measure de-
pression. This scale comprises 13 items, each of which
has four alternative statements that vary in degree
of depression expressed and that are rated from 1–4.
Participants select the statement that best describes
the way they feel, and scores were summed. Higher
scores were indicative of higher depression. The
short form has been found to be strongly correlated
with the long form (Beck, Rial, & Rickels, 1974),
which has been shown to have high validity and relia-
bility with adolescents (Teri, 1982). Cronbach’s alpha
in the present study was .89.
Perceptions of the Importance of Thinness
in Girls for Attracting Boys.
Girls’ perceptions of the importance of thinness
for attracting boys were assessed with two items de-
veloped for this research: “How important do you
believe being slim is. . .” (1) “to making girls attrac-
tive to boys?” and (2) “in determining whether a girl
has a boyfriend?” Items were rated on a scale from
not at all important (1) to very important (5). The two
items were summed to produce a score that describes
girls’ beliefs about the importance of thinness for
attracting boys. The items were strongly correlated
(r = .78).
To assess beliefs held by boys about the impor-
tance of a girl’s slimness in determining attractive-
ness to the boys themselves, two questions were rated
by boys on a 5-point scale that ranged from 1 (not at
all important) to 5 (very important). The questions
were “How important is slimness in making a girl
appear attractive?” and “How important is slimness
in deciding to go out with a girl? (i.e., in having her
as your girlfriend).” The two items were summed to
produce a score that describes boys’ beliefs about
the importance of girls’ thinness for their attractive-
ness. The items were strongly correlated (r = .65). In
668 Paxton, Norris, Wertheim, Durkin, and Anderson

Table I. Means (SD) and Frequencies (Percentages) of Body Image, Disordered Eating, Dating
Variables, BMI, and Psychological Variables for Participants
Girls (n = 578) Boys (n = 145)
M (SD) M (SD) t-Value
Body dissatisfaction 120.60 (22.42)
Restraint 24.28 (9.61)
EDI-Bulimia 14.38 (6.06)
Dating behavior 1.40 (1.02) 1.63 (1.07) 2.40∗
Importance of popularity with boys/girls 8.90 (2.75) 9.88 (2.33) 4.03∗∗∗
Importance of thinness to boys 5.62 (2.09) 7.35 (1.67) 10.35∗∗∗
Attractive figure in girls 5.94 (1.72) 6.59 (1.16) 5.47∗∗∗
Body mass index 21.82 (3.41)
Depression 5.80 (6.40)
Self-esteem 16.21 (2.72)
% % χ2 -Value
Currently have a boy/girl friend 15 20 2.21
Ever had boy/girl friend in the past 62 86 29.23∗∗∗

Note. ∗ p ≤ .05. ∗∗ p ≤ .01. ∗∗∗ p ≤ .001.

addition to these questions regarding personal pref-
erence, boys were asked about friends’ views to pro-
vide an indication of perceived peer norms. These
items were rated on the same 5-point scale. The items
were “Generally, how important is it to your friends
to have a girlfriend with a slim figure?” and “Gen-
erally, how important do your friends think a slim
figure is in determining a girl’s attractiveness?”
To assess both girls’ and boys’ perceptions of
the most attractive female figure, participants were
presented with the set of nine female figures of
graduated size used by Fallon and Rozin (1985). The
scale ranged from emaciated (1) to obese (17), with
odd numbers associated with the figures and even
numbers associated with the midpoints between each
two figures. Girls were asked to select the figure that
they thought was most like their own (current figure)
and the figure they thought would be most attractive
to the other sex. In addition, boys were asked to se-
lect the figure they found most attractive in the other
sex.
Procedure
After informed consent was given, question-
naires were completed by students in their normal
classes. Two researchers were in the classroom to
answer any questions during questionnaire comple-
tion, and another measured participants’ height and
weight in an adjacent private area. Students were
provided with a glossary that contained definitions of
words such as “calorie,” “laxative,” or “fluid tablet”
to ensure that students’ understandings of these
words were clear and consistent.
RESULTS
Test of Model of Predictors of Body
Dissatisfaction in Adolescent Girls
Descriptive characteristics of the sample are
presented in Table I. Prior to testing the proposed
model (Fig. 1), correlations among variables for the
female sample were examined. These are displayed
in Table II. Notably, there were no significant cor-
relations between dating behavior and body dissat-
isfaction, r = .06, p > .05, dietary restraint, r = .08,
p > .05, or bulimic symptoms, r = .08, p > .05. How-
ever, other variables proposed to be associated were
significantly correlated.
The proposed model was then tested using
a path analysis based on a series of multiple re-
gression analyses. Figure 2 shows the standardized
coefficients of the significant paths observed, and
the findings provide strong, but not complete, sup-
port for the proposed model. As indicated above,
the proposed relationships with dating behavior
were not observed. Although it was predicted that
there would be a direct relationship between
importance of popularity with boys and body dis-
satisfaction, the relationship between these two
variables was fully mediated by the belief that
thinness is important to boys. Whereas, as predicted,
self-esteem, depression, and BMI were direct pre-
dictors of body dissatisfaction, their effects were also
Dating and Body Dissatisfaction 669

Table II. Correlations Among Body Image, Heterosocial, and Psychological Variables in Adolescent Girls
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Body dissatisfaction 1.00
2. Dietary restraint .70∗∗∗ 1.00
3. EDI-Bulimia .48∗∗∗ .43∗∗∗ 1.00
4. Dating behavior .06 .08 .08 1.00
5. Importance of popularity with boys .23∗∗ .21∗∗∗ .23∗∗∗ .28∗∗∗ 1.00
6. Importance of thinness to boys .54∗∗∗ .46∗∗∗ .34∗∗∗ .05 .50∗∗∗ 1.00
7. Attractive figure in girls .01 −.06 −.10∗ −.07 −.10∗ −.07 1.00
8. Body mass index .57∗∗∗ .42∗∗∗ .17∗∗∗ .03 −.01 .25∗∗∗ .25∗∗∗ 1.00
9. Depression .43∗∗∗ .33∗∗∗ .47∗∗∗ .03 .16∗∗∗ .31∗∗∗ .06 .12∗∗ 1.00
10. Self-esteem −.33∗∗∗ −.28∗∗∗ −.28∗∗∗ −.03 −.16∗∗∗ −.30∗∗∗ .03 −.06 −.53∗∗∗
∗p ≤ .05. ∗∗ p ≤ .01. ∗∗∗ p ≤ .001.

partially mediated by the belief that thinness is im-
portant to boys. Further, it was proposed that there
would be a direct relationship between self-esteem
and importance of popularity with boys. However,
the relationship between these two variables was
fully mediated by depression. Finally, a relationship
between BMI and depression, which had not been
predicted was observed. The full model, including
both direct and indirect paths, accounted for a signif-
icant amount of the variance in body dissatisfaction,
R2 = .56, F (6, 513) = 109.01, p < .0001.
As predicted, there were significant direct paths
from depression, body dissatisfaction, and dietary
restraint to bulimic symptoms and the complete path
model predicted a significant amount of variance
in bulimic symptoms, R2 = .36, F (8, 496) = 34.44,
p < .0001.
Boys’ Perceptions of the Importance of Thinness
in Girls for Attracting Boys
The second research question (i.e., how impor-
tant is a girls’ thinness to boys in determining a girls’
attractiveness and dating potential) was addressed by
a number of means. Initially, frequencies were cal-
culated for the boys’ responses on the importance of
body shape to boys measure. The proportions of boys
who responded in each category are presented in
Table III. Over 63% of boys indicated that thinness
was fairly or very important in making a girl appear
attractive and in deciding whether to go out with a
girl. Notably, 88% of boys reported that their friends
considered a thin figure as fairly or very important in
determining a girl’s attractiveness, and ratings on this
item were significantly higher than the comparable

Fig. 2. Path model predicting body dissatisfaction from belief that thinness is important to boys, impor-
tance of popularity with boys, depression, self-esteem, and body mass index (∗ indicates p < .05, ∗∗ indicates
p < .01, ∗∗∗ indicates p < .005).
670 Paxton, Norris, Wertheim, Durkin, and Anderson

Table III. Percentage of Boys and Girls Giving Different Ratings on Items Assessing Importance of Thinness for Attractiveness in Girls
Not at all Not very A little bit Fairly Very
important (%) important (%) important (%) important (%) important (%)
How important is slimness in making a girl Boys 1 10 26 47 16
appear attractive? Girls 10 18 32 26 13
How important is slimness: in deciding to go Boys 2 10 24 48 17
out with a girl; in determining whether a girl Girls 22 31 27 15 5
had a boyfriend?
Generally, how important is it to your friends Boys 9 7 28 38 18
to have a girlfriend with a slim figure?
Generally, how important do your friends Boys 0 1 11 61 27
think a slim figure is in determining a girl’s
attractiveness?
Do you feel any pressure from your friends Boys 25 18 27 21 9
only to show an interest in slimmer girls?

item related to own attitude, Wilcoxon Z = −2.25, was not significantly correlated with dating behav-
p > .02. As indicated in Table I, the mean rating of ior score, r = .03, p > .05. Girls were also classified
boys on the importance of thinness to boys scale was into three BMI groups: BMI <19 (15% of girls), BMI
7.35, where the maximum rating was 10, which in- ≥19<25 (73%), or BMI ≥25 (12%). An analysis of
dicates that boys generally perceived thinness as at variance indicated there was no significant difference
least moderately important in girls’ attractiveness. between the groups on mean dating behavior scores
(BMI <19 mean = 1.32 [SD = 1.00]; BMI ≥19<25
mean = 1.44 [SD = 1.02]; BMI ≥25 mean= 1.33 [SD
Accuracy of Girls’ Assessments of Boys’ Attitudes
=1.09]), F(2, 566) = .75, p > .05. However, there was
a significant difference in the proportion of girls who
To address the third research question (regard-
reported ever having had a boyfriend according to
ing accuracy of girls’ assessments of boys’ ideal body
BMI category; with 48%, 65%, and 63% of those cat-
figure in a girl), the mean attractive figure for girls—
egorized as BMI ≤19, BMI ≥19<25, and BMI ≥25,
girl-rated score was examined and compared to the
respectively, had ever a boyfriend, χ2 (2) = 8.85, p <
mean attractive figure in girls—boy-rated score us-
.05. Thus, the thinnest girls were less likely than the
ing an independent t-test (see Table I). A significant
others to report ever having had a boyfriend. To ex-
difference was found between the mean scores such
plore further whether girls who had a more “steady”
that girls believed that the attractive figure to boys
boyfriend differed across BMI categories, responses
was significantly smaller than that reported by boys
to the item in the dating scale that assessed whether
on the same measure. However, it is of interest that
a girl saw a particular boy once a week or more
an independent t-test that compared girls’ and boys’
were examined. There was no difference between
ratings on the importance of (girls’) thinness to boys
BMI categories and frequency of contact; 18%, 19%,
indicated that boys’ ratings were significantly higher
and 20% of those categorized as BMI ≤19, BMI
on this measure (Table I). Thus, it appears that, al-
≥19<25, and BMI ≥25, respectively, reported seeing
though boys view thinness in girls as important, their
a boyfriend once a week or more, χ2 (2) = .11, p >
perception of what constitutes thinness is larger than
.05.
girls believe it to be. The mean current figure of girls,
M = 7.95, SD = 2.74, was significantly higher than the
mean figure rated as most attractive to boys by both
DISCUSSION
girls, M = 5.94, SD = 1.72, t = 69.55, df = 574, p <
.001, and boys, M = 6.59, SD = 1.16, t = 5.78, df =
In the present research, we tested a model of
716, p < .001.
relationships between dating behavior, beliefs about
the importance of popularity with boys and having
Dating Behavior and BMI a boyfriend, beliefs about the importance of thin-
ness in girls’ attractiveness to boys, body dissatisfac-
Finally, the relationship between girls’ BMI and tion, and eating behavior in grade 10 girls. Partial
their dating was examined. Table II shows that BMI support for the proposed model was observed. Of
Dating and Body Dissatisfaction
particular note, although dating behavior was not as-
sociated with body image and eating variables, belief
that thinness was important to girls’ attractiveness to
boys strongly predicted body dissatisfaction. This be-
lief fully mediated the relationship between belief in
the importance of popularity with boys and body dis-
satisfaction. The impacts of low self-esteem and de-
pression on body dissatisfaction were also partially
mediated by beliefs about importance of popularity
to boys and beliefs about thinness being seen by boys
as important in girls’ attractiveness. The significant
and high amount of variance in body dissatisfaction
accounted for by the full model (56%) supports the
predictive value of the model.
This research also revealed that the majority
of boys do believe that thinness is an important
attribute in attractiveness in girls and that they
believe that thinness in girls is important to their
male friends as well. However, consistent with
previous research, boys’ assessment of what is an
ideal size in a girl is larger than girls’ assessments
of boys’ ideal. Finally, no association was observed
between dating behavior score and BMI, although,
contrary to expectations, it was observed that those
in the thinnest category (BMI ≤19) were less likely
to report ever having had a boyfriend.
Our findings supported those of Gralen et al.
(1990) that by mid-adolescence dating behavior in
girls is not associated with body dissatisfaction or eat-
ing behaviors. Consequently, it does not appear that
increasing intimacy with boys increases body image
concerns at this age. Rather than actual dating be-
havior, the direct relationship between body dissat-
isfaction and a girl’s belief that thinness is important
for attractiveness to boys suggests that this belief may
sensitize a girl to perceived failings in her body. Be-
lief in the importance of thinness to boys may be part
of a wider schema about the importance of thinness
generally. Thompson and Stice (2001) have explored
the concept of internalization of the beauty ideal, or
the extent to which an individual endorses the beauty
standards of his or her culture. They have proposed
that higher internalization of the thin ideal is a risk
factor for body dissatisfaction, and this is also sup-
ported by experimental research (Durkin & Paxton,
2002). Although the wider concept of internalization
of the thin ideal was not assessed in the present re-
search, thinness as a key to attractiveness to boys is
widely promoted in media and advertising (Levine &
Harrison, 2004). Consequently, a high belief in the
importance of thinness in determining attractiveness
may be closely associated to the internalization of the
671
beauty ideal. Future research is needed to explore
this possibility further.
The model supported in this research indicates
a relationship between the importance of popularity
with boys (or dating concerns) and body dissatisfac-
tion, as observed by Gralen et al. (1990). However,
our data suggest that this is an indirect relationship
mediated by belief in the importance of thinness in
being attractive to boys. Therefore, if a girl is particu-
larly concerned about popularity with boys, she may
be more sensitive to cultural suggestions regarding
factors that make a girl more appealing to boys. Hav-
ing a negative view of one’s self-worth as reflected in
lower self-esteem and higher depression scores ap-
pears to generalize to body dissatisfaction. However,
the impact of those general well-being variables on
body dissatisfaction is also mediated by girls’ belief
that thinness is important for attractiveness to boys
and, in the case of depression, by girls’ belief that
popularity with boys is important. It is possible that
girls with lower self-esteem and higher depression
are more susceptible to internalizing beliefs that are
strongly endorsed by Western culture about how to
be acceptable to others. Finally, a direct relationship
between BMI and body dissatisfaction has been con-
sistently observed in past research (e.g., Paxton et al.,
1999; Wertheim, Koerner, & Paxton, 2001). How-
ever, the model supported in this research indicates
that a higher BMI is associated with a greater belief
that thinness is important for attractiveness to boys.
Therefore, the greater the departure from the cur-
rent beauty ideal, the greater the exposure to nega-
tive comments and teasing, which may act to increase
awareness of cultural ideals of attractiveness and
thus facilitate internalization of these ideals. Overall,
the model supported by our data enhances our un-
derstanding of relationships between dating beliefs,
dating behaviors, body dissatisfaction, and eating
behaviors. However, the reason for the relationships
between variables requires further exploration.
The second research question asked how impor-
tant a girl’s thinness is to boys in determining a girl’s
attractiveness and deciding whether boys wanted to
date her. The fact that over 60% of boys indicated
that thinness is important to making a girl appear
attractive and in deciding to go out with a girl does
suggest that this is indeed an important feature of
attractiveness in the current environment. A further
finding in support of this observation is the fact
that 88% of boys indicated that they believed their
friends viewed a thin figure as important in determin-
ing a girl’s attractiveness. Thus, it appears that boys
672
do endorse the current thin beauty ideal for women.
This is not surprising given that boys are exposed
as much as girls are to media presentations of ideal
women that endorse thinness as an essential quality.
It is not clear why boys believe thinness is important
to their friends to a greater extent than it is to them-
selves, as previous research suggests that adolescents
and their friends typically have similar attitudes (e.g.,
Paxton et al., 1999). It may be that they exaggerate
the importance of thinness to their friends. This
view is consistent with the contention of Sanderson,
Darley, and Messinger (2002) that attitudes opposed
to the thinness norm may not be expressed, as they
are believed to be counter normative, and conse-
quently the perceived norm does not accurately
represent the private attitudes of group members.
However, it is also possible that these responses may
reflect a socially desirable reporting bias when boys
are describing their own beliefs (as they believe the
thinness requirement is superficial and should not be
important) that result in an underestimation of their
attitudes that is not present when they reflect on their
friends’ beliefs. The present data do not allow us to
resolve this issue, but they do indicate endorsement
of the thin ideal and that the friendship environment
of many boys may reinforce attitudes toward thin-
ness and attractiveness in girls. This finding supports
the idea that prevention work with adolescents
should not simply be focused on the girls themselves,
but rather on the broader social environment.
Despite apparent endorsement of the thin ideal
in girls, boys’ definitions of thinness may be differ-
ent from that of girls. In the present study, girls sig-
nificantly underestimated the body figure size rated
most attractive by boys. This finding is consistent
with those of both Fallon and Rozin (1985) and Cohn
et al. (1987) who studied college aged and adolescent
samples, respectively. Why do girls misjudge the level
of thinness rated as attractive by boys? Perhaps girls
are responding to pressures in addition to that of the
pressure to meet the standard of thinness preferred
by boys, such as pressures from female peers and the
media. The sources of information that communicate
to girls the degree of slimness desired by boys (e.g.,
media images) may be exaggerating. The reason for
this discrepancy requires further examination.
In answer to our final research question, no neg-
ative linear relationship was found between dating
behavior and BMI. Contrary to expectations, the
thinnest BMI group were less likely than the others
to report ever having had a boyfriend. These results
were unexpected as past research has suggested that
Paxton, Norris, Wertheim, Durkin, and Anderson
thinness is associated with attractiveness in women
and that attractiveness is related to dating frequency
(Bersheid, Dion, Walster, & Walster, 1971; Cawley,
2001; Halpern et al., 1999; Stake & Lauer, 1987).
Perhaps the finding by Stake and Lauer, that aver-
age weight women reported dating more frequently
than overweight women, was because their over-
weight participants were at the extreme end of the
BMI continuum. The present sample showed less ex-
treme BMI values than those of Stake and Lauer,
but there was still a quite substantial range (BMI
15–40).
Data from the present study suggest that, al-
though the majority of both girls and boys believe
that thinness in a girl is at least a little bit important in
determining her dating success, in real terms a girl’s
thinness does not appear to impact on frequency of
her dating behavior. This suggests that pressure to
become thin to ensure dating success does not re-
sult from observations made in the real world, but
instead comes from other sources, such as media and
peers. Further work is needed to identify the sources
of these messages. In addition, our research does not
provide information about whether girls of a particu-
lar body size were more likely to go out with the more
or less popular boys. In relation to the finding that
those in the lowest BMI category (<19) were actually
less likely ever to have had a boyfriend, it is possible
that these thinnest girls were not as developmentally
or heterosocially mature as those in the other BMI
groups. This finding needs to be confirmed in future
research.
In addition, it would be interesting to mea-
sure the BMI of boys in future studies to determine
whether there were similarities in the BMI scores of
boys and their girl friends. Further, it would be in-
teresting to determine whether more “popular” boys
tended to date thinner girls.
Although primarily of theoretical interest, our
findings also have practical implications. In relation
to the prevention of body dissatisfaction, the mis-
match between boys’ and girls’ perceptions of a thin
body could be highlighted in prevention programs.
This is especially important in light of the fact that
boys on the whole do appear to endorse the thin
ideal; suggestions to the contrary within an adoles-
cent environment are not likely to be credible. The
finding that there is not a relationship between dat-
ing behavior and BMI, as often assumed, may also
help dispel the view that thinness is crucial to dating
success and, consequently, assist in alleviating some
of the pressure to be thin. However, the benefits
Dating and Body Dissatisfaction
of challenging the norms that girls hold about to
boys’ perceptions of thinness should be done with
care, as Mutterperl and Sanderson (2002) have found
that challenging norm misperceptions about eating
behaviors in college women can result in women
with greater internalization of the thin ideal show-
ing greater disordered eating. The social world of
adolescents is complex, and further research is re-
quired to determine the best way to communicate
this information.
A number of factors limit the interpretation of
our findings. Dating patterns are likely to vary across
cultures and, indeed, across subcultures. Thus, the
generalization of these findings to other populations
cannot be assumed. A further limitation to the gen-
eralizability of the findings is that, although the re-
sponse rate was quite high (85%), we do not have in-
formation on nonresponders, and thus it is not clear
whether or not we had a biased sample. There are
also a number of limitations related to the measure-
ment instruments we used. In particular, self-report
measures of dating activities were used and their ac-
curacy cannot be verified. It would also have been
valuable to include a measure of menarche in this
research, as in younger adolescent girls, timing of
menarche has been associated with body dissatisfac-
tion. However, due to sensitivities within the school
communities about collecting such personal data, this
information was not obtained. Although research
suggests that timing of menarche is not associated
with body dissatisfaction in mid-adolescence (Gralen
et al., 1990; Smolak et al., 1993), it would have been
valuable to be able to confirm that in the present
study.
Measurement issues are also pertinent in rela-
tion to assessment of body size and figure ratings.
Weight and height were measured in a private room
during questionnaire completion, and, although par-
ticipants had previously agreed to weight and height
measurements, this may have increased awareness of
body image issues and affected later responses on
our measures. In relation to assessment of body fig-
ure size preferences in boys particularly, social de-
sirability reporting bias may have influenced results.
This is suggested by the difference between ratings of
the importance of thinness to attractiveness to them-
selves as compared to the perceived importance of
thinness to their friends in determining a girl’s attrac-
tiveness. Further research is required to clarify these
issues.
A range of sociocultural factors have been iden-
tified as potential sources of pressure to fit the thin
673
body ideal, including media, peers, and family. This
research sheds light on a further potential source of
influence: boys’ perceptions of the most attractive
body size for girls. Our data suggest that dating be-
havior itself was not related to body dissatisfaction
and eating behaviors in mid-adolescent girls. How-
ever, belief that thinness is important for attractive-
ness to boys was a direct predictor of body dissatis-
faction, and it partially mediated the effects of low
self-esteem and depression on body dissatisfaction
and fully mediated the relationship between belief
in the importance of popularity with boys and body
dissatisfaction. Although the data appear to provide
some validity for girls’ belief, as boys typically did
report that thinness is an important feature in at-
tractiveness in girls, the ideal figure selected by boys
was larger than that believed by girls to be ideal to
boys. Further, dating behavior was not significantly
associated with body size. These latter findings pro-
vide potential ammunition for challenging prevail-
ing beliefs that contribute to body dissatisfaction in
mid-adolescent girls.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was funded by grants from
the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund and
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation.
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