# How do I evaluate myself? The importance of examining overevaluation of muscularity in risk for eating disorder symptoms

## TL;DR

The study shows that valuing muscularity as part of self-esteem can increase eating disorder symptoms in both men and women, with men more likely to focus on muscularity.

## Contribution

This is the first study to examine how overevaluation of muscularity relates to eating disorder symptoms in both men and women.

## Key findings

- Men reported higher overevaluation of muscularity compared to women.
- Overevaluation of shape, weight, and muscularity was linked to distinct eating disorder symptoms.
- There were no gender differences in how appearance-based self-esteem relates to eating disorder symptoms.

## Abstract

The extent to which individuals view, think and feel about their shape and weight in relation to their self-esteem is understood as a risk factor for eating disorders. However, muscularity has yet to be examined as an appearance category that individuals may base their self-esteem on. Thus, this study examined whether evaluating oneself based on muscularity (overevaluation of muscularity) may be relevant to men and women’s self-esteem and whether this form of self-evaluation may relate to eating disorder symptoms most prominently in men, who frequently present with muscularity concerns.

Young adults (N = 290; 50.3% cisgender women) were recruited from a Canadian university and completed a modified version of the Shape and Weight Based Self-Esteem Questionnaire and a measure of eating disorder symptoms.

Men endorsed greater overevaluation of muscularity than women, although women endorsed greater overevaluation of shape and weight than men. Despite differences in the forms of appearance on which men and women based their self-esteem, multi-group structural equation models demonstrated that there were no differences in the associations between overevaluation of shape-, weight-, and muscularity and eating disorder symptoms across men and women. However, overevaluation of shape-, weight-, and muscularity were associated with distinct eating disorder symptoms.

Altogether, results provide nuanced information regarding the importance of assessing self-evaluation based on muscularity, alongside shape- and weight, as increased self-evaluation based on these appearance domains may confer risk for eating disorder symptoms.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40337-025-01419-3.

Basing self-esteem on appearance, such as shape or weight, is shown to be a risk factor for increased eating disorder symptoms. However, basing self-esteem on the appearance of one’s muscles may also be an important appearance category; especially for men who frequently endorse muscularity-related concerns. Despite this, no research has sought to examine whether men or women base their self-esteem on muscularity and, further, whether this may relate to eating disorder symptoms. Thus, this study examined 1) whether men and women base their self-esteem on shape, weight, and muscularity, and 2) whether basing self-esteem on these forms of appearance related to eating disorder symptoms differently for men and women. Results showed that while men were more likely than women to endorse self-esteem based on muscularity, basing self-esteem on any appearance category was related to eating disorder symptoms in both men and women. These results underscore the importance of inquiring about muscularity-related concerns for men and women, especially in the context of understanding risk for eating disorder symptoms.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40337-025-01419-3.