Race has little effect on body image, studies find

“Contrary to popular belief, white and non-white women are about equally unhappy with their looks, according to an analysis of 98 studies published in the July issue of Psychological Bulletin. It is the largest U.S. research ever done on female body dissatisfaction.

“A lot of theorizing and myths,” along with small studies, have emphasized white women’s poor body images, says psychologist Shelly Grabe of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Minority women, it has been thought, enjoy more sensible, forgiving expectations for body shape. But Grabe and coauthor Janet Shibley Hyde find little evidence of that.

There’s no significant difference among whites, Asian-Americans and Hispanics in how dissatisfied they are with their bodies, they say. And there’s no difference between whites and blacks over age 22.”

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